Dissolve Me
by LoveACullen
Summary: Bella's life hasn't been going smoothly as of lately. Upon moving to Forks, she befriends a group of strangers and starts believing that things are finally looking up. At the same time, she finds herself growing more and more curious about the mysterious guy with the messy bronze hair and piercing green eyes... but shouldn't she know that curiosity killed the cat? All Human.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. _

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Chapter 1

Bella

I couldn't stop thinking about it. No matter how hard I tried. My mind couldn't seem to move past the image of her cold, mangled body on the stretcher. How I had known, even before the paramedics told me, that she was gone.

She'd never again walk into my bedroom and ask me about my day. She'd never again pick me up from school and randomly swing by and pick up ice cream for the two of us down the street.

She had been the total opposite of me; eccentric, spontaneous, a free spirit. I was the one who had kept the house from burning down; she was the spark that would always start the fire.

I missed her with every fiber of my being. There wasn't a word to express the emptiness I felt now. I felt as if part of me had left with her.

"Bella?" my father awakened me out of my reverie, bringing me back to the present.

Right. The present. Charlie had just picked me up from the airport in Port Angeles, beginning the awkward, one-hour long drive to Forks, Washington.

I hadn't realized just how long I had spaced out for, only now noting how the car had pulled into the driveway of the off-white, two-story house. My new home.

"We're here," he said, gauging my reaction, before moving out of the car to collect my things. I sighed, throwing my head against the headrest, wishing that he'd stop acting so cautious around me. I wasn't a ticking time bomb. I wasn't about to explode any second.

Somehow, I couldn't find it in me to resent Charlie for his wariness. He didn't really know any better, and it wasn't his fault. I hadn't exactly made a visible effort to talk to him in the past fourteen years since my parents had split up. He'd reached out to me, of course, but I'd always kept my distance.

The guilt once again gnawed at me, seeing my father lugging the two heavy suitcases I'd brought with me up the stairs. Following him silently, he pushed open a door, revealing something that I assumed was going to be my bedroom from now on.

"It isn't much. I know it's not as nice as what you had in Phoenix, but I hope it'll do," Charlie said bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck as a smile touched my lips. He'd bought a new bed for me, complete with fresh floral-printed sheets, as well as a desk for me to get all of my work for school done on.

"No, it's great. Thank you, Dad," although I preferred to refer to him as Charlie when he wasn't around, I understood that it was more respectful to call him 'Dad' to his face.

He left me to my devices after that, allowing me to begin unpacking my stuff into the chest of drawers that had been squished into a corner of the room.

After a while, I collapsed onto the queen-sized bed, snuggling into the duvet, and allowing myself to indulge in relaxation - something I hadn't been allowed the privilege of doing in weeks.

* * *

When I eventually woke up from my slumber, yawning softly as I stretched, I peered through the large window, noting that the sun was still hovering in the sky. Checking my alarm clock, I realized that it was only three o'clock in the afternoon.

_What to do, what to do…._

I took the stairs two at a time, ready to invade the kitchen cabinets for a quick bite, only to find that most of the cupboards I searched were empty. Somehow, I had a feeling that this was a norm for Charlie.

_Wonderful, _I thought sarcastically, finding a Post It stuck to the fridge in messy handwriting:

_Bells, _

_Went back to the station. Sorry there isn't much to eat. I've left some money in the cookie jar, so feel free to stop by the grocery and pick up whatever you want. _

_I'll be back home around nine. _

_-Charlie_

From that simple note, I inferred that there was a strong possibility that from now on, I was going to be doing most of the cooking at home. It didn't even look as if Charlie had used an oven in the past fourteen years. I guess that was one of the things that Renée and him had bonded over – their lack of culinary skills.

I sighed, feeling a fresh wave of pain envelop me with that single thought of Renée. Wrapping my arms around myself, I began to calm down with a few deep breaths.

As much as I was currently acting like it, I was making a promise to myself that I wouldn't be the sad, lonely girl at school. That would've been the last thing Renée would've wanted for me. She would've wanted me to make friends, be happy, move on.

I had to move on. I couldn't allow myself to live in the past for another second.

With that single thought, I straightened myself, grabbing the bills from the cookie jar as I slipped into my coat.

It was only as I began walking out of the front door that I stopped short with a sudden realization: _Right. I don't have a car. _

Giggling to myself at my stupidity, I decided that I'd walk to the grocery instead. It couldn't be that far away, seeing as this wasn't really a huge town to begin with.

I'd definitely need the fresh air, anyway.

Biting my lip as I began the relatively short trek to the grocery, I resolved that I would have to soon breach the topic of me getting my own car. I didn't think I'd be able to live with the embarrassment of always having Charlie drop me off to school in the police cruiser. I know, my thought process sounded completely superficial, but I couldn't help it.

Soon enough, I immersed myself in looking down at my feet, keeping away from any haphazard rocks or things that would propel me to trip. I was already clumsy as it was – I didn't particularly want to have a messy fall on the pavement.

There were a few cars parked in the lot of the store, most notably a shiny red BMW, which stood out in the pile of mediocre scraps of metal.

_Wow. _

I hadn't realized that anyone in Forks owned flashy cars. Immediately, I wanted to smack myself in the face for thinking that. _How was I supposed to know anything about a town I hadn't visited since I was three?_

I grabbed a cart, rolling it down the aisles and picking up whatever ingredients I figured that I would need to cook dinner. Picking up a pack of pasta, some tomato sauce, and cheese, I grabbed whatever else I'd need to make some classic spaghetti.

I grabbed some cereal as well, figuring that I'd need it for school tomorrow.

_Tomorrow. _

A wave of nausea washed over me thinking about how my first day was going to go. I was dreading entering a new school, making new friends. I mean, I wasn't anti-social, don't get me wrong, but I didn't exactly enjoy the fact that I would be the new girl in school.

The center of attention.

Wrinkling my nose at the thought, I was about to push my cart in the direction of the cash register, when I noticed a girl looking to be about my age staring confusedly at the different bottles of pasta sauce in front of her.

I was slightly taken aback at her looks. I mean, I wouldn't call myself ugly, but I was pretty plain compared to a lot of people, this girl especially.

With long, wavy brown hair and matching eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a slim body, I definitely wasn't anything compared to the tall blonde standing in front of me with curves that any girl would kill for. I wondered momentarily if she was a model.

I had no idea what compelled me to go over there. Maybe it was the fact that I felt sorry for her, seeming so obviously irritated and confused. My inner helpful nature kicked in, and I found myself standing next to the model-like girl, posing a question, "Having trouble deciding which one to buy?"

Her head snapped towards me in surprise, and I almost expected her to shoo me away. With her scary good looks, I probably wouldn't have been too offended.

Instead, I found myself even more stunned when a smile appeared on her face as she sighed, "Yeah, my mom told me to buy some pasta sauce, but she wasn't exactly specific and there are so many different kinds, and so many different brands, I just have no idea which one to go with."

I understood her predicament, knowing exactly how that felt, beginning my search through the labels.

My eyes soon landed on the classic tomato and basil flavor, which ironically had the least calories. I hoped that I wasn't stereotyping the girl, but she seemed to be one of those calorie-counters, so I suggested it. Explaining that most people tended to go for traditional red pasta sauce, she seemed pleased and grateful at the end of my explanation, extending her hand out to me:

"I'm Rosalie by the way, but you can call me Rose. I don't think I've ever seen you around school before… Did you just move here?"

I could tell that she was worried that I hadn't just moved here and that she'd simply not noticed me at school, so I reassured her, "Yeah, I just moved her from Phoenix to come live with my dad. I'm Bella."

Recognition passed along her face almost instantaneously, "You're Chief Swan's daughter?"

I nodded, smiling politely, surprised when she began making conversation with me. I had known even before moving here that I'd be the talk of the town, since not much tended to happen in Forks. So naturally, when it did, it was a big deal and everyone knew about it.

I suspected that she knew about my mom as well, from the way her eyes had briefly showcased a hint of sympathy, before flashing back to curiosity. But I was more than grateful when she had decided against bringing the subject up.

After chatting with Rose for a good ten minutes, I felt satisfied in knowing that I would at least have one familiar face to look forward to seeing at school.

"See you tomorrow, Bella. Thanks again for the help. I'm sure the lasagna will be amazing," she grinned at me, as I waved goodbye, proceeding to the checkout.

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Preparing dinner had been more relaxing than I'd originally thought. While waiting for the pasta to boil, I'd heated up the spaghetti sauce, adding various seasonings to the dish, while I began reading _The Maze Runner. _

Just when I was immersing myself in the book, I heard the sounds of the water bubbling over, marking my page before setting the book down and going to turn off the heat.

My mind wandered back to Rosalie, wondering whether or not she was simply being nice because of what had happened to my mother, or if she had genuinely taken an interest in me.

_No, she'd been perfectly friendly to me even before realizing who I was. _

Sighing to myself, I covered the two pots, picking up my book to continue reading until Charlie arrived home.

About fifteen minutes into reading my book, I heard the sound of crunching gravel as the cruiser pulled up in the driveway. Then I heard a second, heavier-sounding crunch and what sounded like an older engine.

My interest peaked, and I gazed out of the front window to notice Charlie chatting with one of his friends from the reservation. There was the police cruiser, and next to it sat a rusty red pickup truck. My eyebrows scrunched together before my eyes widened, seeing Charlie walking towards the front door. I didn't think he would've approved very much that I was spying on him.

Thankfully, I dashed into the kitchen just as Charlie called out to me, "Bella, could you come outside for a second? There's someone I want you to meet."

Careful not to trip, I grabbed my boots, making my way down the steps of the front porch, shaking hands with the man in the wheelchair and the teenage boy who looked to be his son.

"Bella, this is Billy Black and his son, Jacob," I smiled at the two of them as they both beamed back.

Jacob later jogged my memory, reminding me of the times when we were little, and we'd made mud pies together.

"Aren't you going to tell her?" Billy nudged Charlie, who immediately plastered a sheepish grin on his face.

"Tell me what?" I asked, turning to my father who patted the huge hunk of metal that Jacob had driven over here.

"Well, I figured that you'd much prefer having your own car to drive to school, so when Billy offered to let me take the truck off of his hands…" Charlie left the sentence hanging, waiting for me to react.

"Wait, you bought me a car? Well, a truck… but still. I don't know what to say, Dad. This is more than I could've asked for. Thank you," without really thinking about it, I hugged Charlie, probably for the first time in years, surprising both him and myself as he laughed at my obvious enthusiasm.

I think that that had been the most I'd said to him since he'd picked me up from the airport.

I was being honest – I'd obviously wanted a car, but I would've been willing to buy my own with some of the money that I'd saved up over the years. The fact that Charlie had bought me my own car was a huge gesture; one that I appreciated enormously.

The guys all came into the house, and I worried for a second that I hadn't cooked enough spaghetti for everyone. But even after all of the boys had helped themselves to a generous plateful, I noted with a pleased smile that I still had enough left over for me to get a full serving of my own.

"Bella, thank you for the meal. This is definitely much better than the usual hamburgers at the diner," Charlie commented with a laugh, making me frown. _Wait. Was _that _what he had been eating to stay alive all this time?_

That was it, then. I was definitely going to be making some changes around the house - home cooked meals being at the top of my list.

Charlie, thankfully, didn't seem to notice my worry, helping me collect the plates and pile them into the sink. He offered to wash the dishes for me, but I could tell that he had had a long day, so I waved him off.

"Well, I'm gonna head back to La Push to drop these folks back home. Don't wait up for me. You should probably get some rest for school tomorrow," Charlie gave me a smile, and I smiled back, waving goodbye to everyone.

Billy and Jacob thanked me profusely for the meal, and I tried not to read too much into the fact that Jacob's eyes had lingered on me, as Billy's had traveled between the two of us.

Sure, Jacob seemed like a great guy, but even now, I just couldn't see us being more than friends.

Heading up to my room, I laid down on my back, staring up at the ceiling.

Boy was I completely not ready to face school tomorrow.

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**A/N: So that's the first chapter! Nothing crazy, but I thought it was a good introduction to what's to come in the story. **

**I realize that Renée is always the person who has died/gotten hurt in my stories, and I have no idea why that is. I just feel more comfortable letting her go over Charlie. **

**The next chapter will revolve around Bella's first day at school. Who knows? Maybe she'll meet a certain bronze-haired guy there?**

**Please leave me a review! The story will eventually pick up (hopefully).**

**OH and for those of you wondering: this story will be updated weekly :D **

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for all the alerts I received for the first chapter!**

**And thank you to: _theresa24, Monyetta, sujari6, michael . vandebroek, twilight edward twilight (Guest), misstresswillow, _and_ TwilighterSam1989_, for reviewing!**

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_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight._

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Chapter 2

Bella 

I woke up feeling surprisingly rejuvenated for school the following morning. Though, I guess it wasn't really that surprising seeing as I'd gone to bed relatively early after Charlie had gone to drop off the Blacks.

Taking my time to get dressed, I pulled on a loosely fitted cream sweater along with a pair of dark washed skinny jeans and black doc Martens. I debated doing something stylish with my hair, but decided against it, leaving the brown locks cascading in waves down to my lower back.

I applied minimal make up, opting for a light coat of foundation on my face and some tinted lip balm. Slinging the strap of my school bag over one shoulder, I hurried to the kitchen - tripping twice on the stairs in the process.

I should've known by now that if I had trouble walking on a flat surface, running down stairs was a definite safety hazard.

Grabbing the box of cereal that I'd just bought at the grocery the day before, I half-expected to see Charlie sipping on some coffee whilst reading the morning paper. But upon seeing yet another fluorescent yellow Post It, I realized that he usually left for work early.

I appreciated his well wishes that I would have a good first day, smiling a little as I shoveled the crunchy meal down my mouth in silence.

By the time I was finished, I still had half an hour to spare until school was supposed to start, and decided to go over there in case there were any forms and such I had to fill out upon arrival.

Grabbing the keys to my newly acquired truck, I jostled the key in the ignition, having learned from Jacob that it tended to stick, visibly relaxing when the engine purred – or rather, _groaned_ – to life.

Predictably, the drive to Forks High School was smooth and uneventful. It was an odd thing seeing how little cars there were on the roads, but then again, this _was _Forks we were talking about. It had little over 3,000 inhabitants.

I pulled into the parking lot of the quaint school, feeling unnaturally jittery. Looking around myself, I noticed that I was already getting a few stares, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and tell the nosey teens to mind their own business.

"Hi, I'm Isabella Swan. I'm new here," I had walked into the main office of the school, introducing myself to the short, plump red-haired woman behind the desk. Reading the nameplate on her table, I gathered that she was Mrs. Cope.

"Oh, right! Charlie's daughter. We've been expecting you," I tried not to cringe at her attempt at being friendly, feeling more creeped out than anything.

Laughing nervously, I gently prompted her to provide me with my schedule. "Here are a few slips that I need each of your teachers to sign. Please try to return them at the end of the day," she gave me one last cheesy smile, allowing me to leave just in time for my first period class.

I was pleasantly surprised when the teacher, Ms. Green, signed my slip for me with no problem, and allowed me to find a seat wherever I wanted. I ended up sitting right next to an overly energetic pixie – there was simply no other way to describe her.

"Hi, I'm Alice. You must be Isabella. You're from Phoenix, right? What's it like there? I bet the shopping's a lot better there than here. Do you like shopping? I can tell you have great taste in clothes…" she took a deep breath then, as I stared at her wide-eyed.

"Wow, slow down, there. I prefer Bella actually, and yes, I'm from Phoenix. It's warm and sunny there, and basically the opposite of Forks. But even so, I'm glad for the change of scenery here.

"I do enjoy shopping to an extent, but I can tell that you absolutely adore fashion," of course, my response included several breaths and pauses unlike hers.

Glancing down at her outfit, I was surprised at how well she could pull off zebra print leggings and a bright pink dress that reached mid-thigh. This girl was definitely one of the most outrageous people I'd ever met, and though I usually couldn't stand bubbly people, Alice seemed so genuine that it was hard not to smile at her enthusiasm.

She immediately giggled at my response, "I'm sorry, I'm just an easily excitable person," unfortunately, just as she was about to go further into conversation with me, Ms. Green began taking attendance and we were forced to quiet down.

Since it was only the first day of school, the teacher mainly spent the class discussing the course expectations, and I noted with mixed feelings that I had already read all of the books on the reading list.

Great because I wouldn't have as much work to do as the other kids in class. Bad because I'd be bored out of my mind having to pick apart books I'd already picked apart.

Halfway through the period, Alice saved me from my boredom, snatching my schedule away from me – I didn't understand how she'd managed to do that without me noticing – and comparing hers with mine.

"Yay! We have Gym and History together - you'll meet Jasper in that class," she smiled at the paper, and I had a strong sense that she was romantically involved with this Jasper guy.

At the end of the class, Alice bid me goodbye, sad that she wouldn't be seeing me until History. I only laughed, comforting her that it was just two periods away.

Yeah, I definitely liked Alice.

In my next class, Calculus, I was too focused on the lesson to pay attention to anyone around me. After signing my slip and taking attendance, Mr. Jones promptly began writing a bunch of notes down on the board, forcing me to focus on my work. Many times I felt several pairs of eyes on me, which made me severely uncomfortable, but thankfully, I was able to ignore them for the majority of the lesson.

Sociology was my next class, which, unfortunately, was a relaxed class. It was unlucky for me because I had no Alice to keep me company this time, allowing several classmates to flock to my desk, introducing themselves and asking me a ton of personal questions.

At least when Alice had been nearby, everyone had kept to himself or herself, not wanting to disturb our conversation. Now, it was a free for all. And I hated every second of it.

One particularly annoying girl named Jessica kept feeding me gossip on all of the popular kids in school, one of whom was Alice Brandon. Jessica then proceeded to wonder aloud how on Earth I'd gotten Alice to befriend me when Jessica had been trying to weasel her way into their group of friends for years without success.

I could already tell that this girl was going to constantly grate on my nerves throughout my time at school. Coupled with a boy named Mike, who was overly friendly and affectionate, I was _doomed_.

By the time History came rolling around, I was glad to be in the presence of a sane person, practically sighing in relief when I walked into the classroom, immediately spotting Alice chatting up a tall blond guy.

Something about his curly blond hair and grey eyes seemed oddly familiar - like I'd seen them before on someone else - but I couldn't seem to place it. He was tall and quite muscular, but not in a dramatic way.

Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, I made to pull out the chair in front of them, but Alice soon yelled, "Bella! Sit next to me."

I jumped, almost dropping my books, laughing a little as I did what Alice commanded.

"Oh, and this is Jasper. Jasper, this is Bella," she motioned between the two of us, and Jasper smiled politely, striking up conversation by asking me how my day was going so far. He, like Alice, seemed genuinely curious about my response.

When I let out an audible groan, Alice's eyes widened, "Oooh, you have to tell us _all_ about it at lunch."

As the middle-aged teacher called the class to order, I took a seat, trying to hide my smile at Alice's indirect invitation to sit with her and her friends at lunch. I was also ridiculously thankful because if she hadn't asked me first, Jessica Stanley would have for sure dragged me to sit with her. And I didn't even want to _think _about the amount of incessant talking and nonsensical gossip I would've been subjected to if _that_ had happened.

As the last minutes of History ticked by, I could tell that I would enjoy this class during the time I would be taking it. Mr. Miller seemed like a genuine History lover, content in sharing his knowledge with us.

I didn't get much time to get well acquainted with Jasper during the period, but from what I could tell, he seemed to be a bit of a genius – well, at least in History anyway. I couldn't count the amount of times he had raised his hand – _and_ ended up getting the answer correct.

Grabbing my books, Alice followed me to my locker, thrilled when she noticed that I was just four down from her. Packing away my books, I followed her lead to the cafeteria, as Jasper came to meet us, and we all walked through the double doors in a row.

I almost rolled my eyes when a hush fell across the entire room, and eyes flickered towards me, then to Alice and Jasper.

I was finally beginning to understand what Charlie had meant in saying that people in Forks tended to be overly inquisitive due to small population.

Alice skipped off in her pink dress and Jasper kept to her side, smiling at her small figure as I lagged behind in the line, feeling as if I was invading on some private moment of theirs. Grabbing an apple, a slice of pizza and a bottle of water, I paid for the items as Alice and Jasper waited for me.

I had been a bit startled when I'd realized that they were standing a few meters away as I collected my tray, thinking that they had already gone off to sit with their friends.

Recovering from my momentary shock, we all walked to a table near the middle of the cafeteria, and I almost dropped my tray when I spotted a familiar blonde, model-like figure sitting in one of the chairs. My mind seemed to connect the dots, and I wondered if she and Jasper were related.

Next to Rosalie sat a muscular guy with curly dark brown hair. I would've cowered away from him if it weren't for his smiling eyes and dimples that immediately erased all thoughts that he could ever be scary.

"Bella!" Rosalie grinned, looking up to see me walking towards the table, as I smiled, placing my tray down.

"Hey, Rose. I was wondering when I'd see you," I voiced, sitting down as Alice and Jasper mimicked my actions.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Alice asked, scrunching her eyebrows together, looking a little dejected that she hadn't been the first one to befriend me. I almost laughed out loud, completely not used to people taking a liking to me so quickly.

"Yeah, Bella here helped me pick out some pasta sauce in the grocery for the dinner last night. Mom was so unhelpful about which kind she wanted," Rose rolled her eyes, and everyone chuckled a bit at that, knowing the feeling of parents who refused to be descriptive.

"Oh, that was you! Dude, that lasagna was the bomb. Good going on the selection," Emmett held his hand up for a high-five, and I giggled, reaching up to slap his hand that was almost twice the size of mine.

"Oh yeah, everyone totally loved the dish in the end. Thanks for the help. I'll definitely come to you whenever I'm in another situation like that…which might be soon. Just warning you," she threw me a wink then, as I grinned, promising her that I didn't mind at all. And I really didn't. I was glad to help.

Though most of the eyes in the cafeteria had left our table, there were a few odd ones that kept chancing a glance over at us. After a few minutes of falling into easy conversation, the prickling sensation of someone's eyes on me was stronger than ever.

Though I tried to ignore the stare, after a few more minutes of feeling like someone was burning a hole through my face, I looked around the room, eyes immediately settling upon a pair of emerald green ones.

You know how, when a person catches you staring at them, your natural response is to look away? It seemed that this guy wasn't familiar with that custom.

And as my eyes wandered across him, I was happy that he hadn't looked away. Other than his eyes, the feature that stood out most about him was his unruly bronze hair – yes, bronze. It wasn't quite red, and it wasn't quite brown, it was somewhere in the middle, with a few stray golden streaks. His eyebrows were dark, immediately drawing attention to his eyes, which seemed to be never-ending pools of green.

As my eyes moved down, I took note of his angular nose, soft-looking lips and prominent jawline that highlighted his somewhat high cheekbones. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and black jeans along with sneakers, and even with a shirt on, I could tell that he was built – and tall, from how obviously long his legs were.

In the end, I was the one who broke our staring contest, turning back to face Alice, who was in deep conversation with Rosalie about a sale that was happening in Port Angeles this weekend. No one, thankfully, had noticed me looking at the guy.

"Wanna come, Bella? It'll be _so_ fun," Alice convinced me, pouting when I showed some reluctance.

Eventually, I relented after she told me that it would be a great opportunity for us all to get to know each other, "Okay, _fine_."

Both she and Rose cheered, as the boys groaned, tired of having to carry their respective girlfriends' shopping bags on these infamous expeditions.

I certainly felt their pain.

"Um, don't look now. But this guy keeps staring at me, and I'm a little curious as to who he is…" I trailed off, facing Alice, and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. I was relieved that Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper were all talking about something else while I questioned her, as I doubted I would've received the same subtly from them.

Her eyes flickered across the room quite quickly, and not in an obvious manner, before her expression turned somber, apparently finding the person I'd been talking about.

_Okay. What was that about?_

"That's Edward," she didn't say anything more, which got me a little aggravated, and slightly worried since, even after a day, I was getting the sense that Alice was someone who never spared details.

"And? Why is he sitting by himself? Is he bad or something?" it felt awkward for me to ask these questions, but I saw a glimmer in Alice's eyes as she looked at me, as if she knew exactly why I was so curious.

"No, he's not bad," she laughed – it was a sound that resembled tinkling wind chimes.

"Well, to be honest, I don't really know anymore. We used to be friends, best friends actually. He used to sit right here with us at this table. Then last year, something happened and he just cut off all contact with us. We tried to find out why, but he just shut us out. All of us," the melancholic expression returned to her face, and I frowned, feeling awful that I'd unknowingly brought up memories that were painful to her.

"I'm sorry for asking," I apologized, as Alice shook her head vigorously, "No need to apologize, Bella. And for what it's worth, when we _were_ friends, Edward was a great guy. A loyal friend. Smart. Funny. Caring." She smiled at the end, raising her eyebrows.

I blushed when I realized why she was telling me all of this, but mentally brushed everything off, already doubting whether any of that information would be useful to me when he was clearly not someone who easily let people in. At least, not anymore.

Turning back to take one more look at him, I was once again startled to see him already looking at me. I held his gaze for a shorter length of time this time, throwing him a shy smile before forcing myself to look away.

Unfortunately, my curiosity once again got the better of me, wanting to know if my attempt at being friendly had gotten anything out of him, or if his neutral expression was one that never changed.

Half-expecting him to already looking at me, I was slightly disappointed to note that his head was down as he began opening his bottle of water.

What immediately changed my disheartenment into full-blown amazement was the fact that as I looked more closely, I saw that one corner of his lips was slightly upturned.

As if he had been smiling.

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**A/N: ****I'm happy that you guys are curious to see where the story goes. Please feel free to leave me some more reviews - I love reading and replying to them :)**

**This chapter was quite fun to write. **

**Bella's interest in Edward is so cute… too bad he's a bit stand-offish (which you shall see in the chapters to come). **

**Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted in a week, so look out for it!**

**Xoxo  
LoveACullen **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for all of the alerts/favorites!**

**Thank you to: _BlueHummingbird8, Monyetta, Nissa-Cullen, cbmorefie, TwilighterSam1989, theresa24,_ and _sujari6_, for reviewing!**

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_Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Twilight._

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Chapter 3

Bella

Once the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, I was a bit disappointed to be leaving the lunch table, already feeling myself growing close to Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper.

They all reassured me that I'd be seeing them during Gym, which was one of the few classes that seniors and juniors shared together. While Alice and myself were juniors, Rosalie and Jasper (who I had found out were, in fact, twins) as well as Emmett, were all seniors, and would be graduating at the end of the year.

Spending time with them, strange as it was, had made me feel happier than I had in a long time. I felt like I could be myself with these people, without putting on a mask, which was something I usually did whenever I was around kids my age.

For the majority of the day, I had smiled and been polite to everyone who'd introduced themselves to me, but my actions had been strained. Although I had made a promise to try and make friends, a lot of the people I had met were making that willpower dwindle.

It was great to finally be able to surround myself with people who made me laugh and forget all of my past problems.

"See you later, Bells!" Emmett yelled, ruffling my hair before following Rosalie, who threw me a warm smile, along with Alice and Jasper, to the other side of the school.

Sighing, I followed the path to room 310, one of the school labs. Seeing that the class was already being filled with juniors like myself, I got a bit anxious noticing almost everyone paired up.

"You can have a seat next to Mr. Cullen," the teacher signed my slip before pointing to the back of the class, where there was an empty seat right next to… Edward.

His green eyes met mine once again, but it was different this time. Instead of seeing curiosity and wonder, I saw a hint of frustration and even a bit of anger as I retrieved my slip from Mr. Banner.

Slipping into the chair next to the bronze-haired God-like figure, I faced the front of the classroom, not daring to look over at this guy, who seemed to have a split personality. One minute, he seems to be smiling, the next, he's glaring daggers at me.

_What on Earth could've happened between lunch and now?_

I didn't know. But it was killing me to find out.

"So, I hope you're comfortable with who you're sitting next to, as they will be your lab partner for the rest of the year," _well, shoot me._

Apparently, Edward had the same sentiment, as he let out an obviously annoyed sigh, and a sarcastic whisper, "_Great_."

Okay, that just got me ticked off.

_What was his problem? _

I hadn't exactly been a likable person back in Phoenix, so I had gotten my fair share of insults, but over time, I had learned to ignore them.

Which is why it was surprising for both him and me when I snapped, "Okay, I've gathered that you don't like me. But whether you like it or not, we're stuck with each other for the rest of the year, and I plan on passing this class. So, if you could put aside whatever you have against me, I'd really appreciate it."

I didn't know why; but that fact that Edward was the one who had offended me peeved me a lot more than normal.

His green eyes had gone a little wide, and he looked incredibly taken aback at my outburst, probably thinking that I hadn't noticed his signs of aversion towards me.

He didn't respond, and I actually wondered for a while if he had gone mute.

"Fine," he settled harshly. Although I'd heard him whisper, it hadn't been quite as astounding as his speaking voice. It was smooth like velvet, and deep, and so much better than I'd imagined it to be.

So he had perfect hair, a perfect face, _and _a perfect voice.

It was unfortunate that his personality had ruined it all.

With a nod, I turned back to the front of the classroom, as Mr. Banner began the lesson, introducing the unit that we would be covering for the next few weeks.

Throughout the lesson, I felt Edward's eyes constantly flickering towards me, and I was growing more and more aggravated by the second. Turning to the side, I caught him while he had been glancing at me once again. Raising my eyebrows, "Want a picture?"

His eyes sparkled with amusement, and he looked like he was fighting back a smile.

And then, just as quickly as his amusement had come, it vanished. Just like that, I saw his face harden as he mechanically faced the front of the classroom, jotting down notes in his binder.

But it wasn't before I had gotten a good look into his eyes.

They seemed… guarded, resolved. Not quite cold, like I had imagined, but definitely as if he was forcing himself to hide his emotions. Like if he was shutting me out.

Edward was confusing me more and more with everything he did, and I hated the fact that I couldn't just brush him off like anyone else.

It was as if I needed to know what was wrong with him; why he was the way he was.

From Alice's description of him, he hadn't always been like this. He had actually been _likable_ before.

_What happened?_

He obviously wasn't going to tell me anytime soon, so I might as well just try to forget it.

Of course, that's easier said than done.

* * *

Gym was a different kind of torture to endure.

I was a total failure at sports due to my klutziness and lack of coordination, which Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Alice all found overly entertaining.

"Would you guys stop laughing at me?" I whined, having just accidentally hit the volleyball across the room, smacking Tyler Crowley right in the face. Apologizing profusely to the boy, while he rubbed the sore spot on his cheek, I'd only heard laughter from my friends.

_Was it weird that I was already calling them my friends after a day?_

"Only when it stops being funny," Alice giggled, taking a deep breath, temporarily gathering herself, before soon starting a new round of laughter, "Nope, still funny!"

"Are you naturally this…challenged at playing sports?" Jasper hid his smile, trying to be polite as I rolled my eyes.

"_Yes. _My clumsiness comes with me being ridiculously uncoordinated," I admitted, as Emmett boomed, "So we've realized."

"Okay, you guys have had your fun. Now can we continue the game?" I motioned towards the net as Rosalie offered me a smile.

"Absolutely. And at least now we know _not_ to pass the ball to you," she caused another round of laughter, which I took gracefully, sighing exasperatedly, "_Thank_ you."

After gym, everyone said their goodbyes, separating and getting into their respective cars as I entered mine.

Reviewing my day whilst driving in silence, I thought that overall, it had gone better than I'd expected.

Though there had been a few low points – Jessica Stanley, Edward Cullen – I thought that the good things had cancelled those out.

I thought about how much worse my day could have gone and came up with at least five different scenarios, all sounding ten times worse than the day that I had endured.

As long as I stayed close to Rosalie, Alice, Emmett and Jasper, I'd have a good year – great, even. The year that I had originally thought was going to be unbearable was actually looking to be kind of… fun.

I could tell that they were all extremely trustworthy, and not at all fake like many of the people I'd met in my seventeen years.

I smiled a little, knowing that my mom would've been happy that I'd finally met people who had the potential to be life-long friends of mine. I'd always struggled with finding people who enjoyed my company, or who I wanted to keep around, so this was a pleasant change.

My mind began wandering back to Edward as I pulled into my driveway, following the stairs up to my room.

Plopping down on my desk, I began pulling out the various textbooks I'd taken home, starting my small pile of homework.

Even with my constantly drifting thoughts, I somehow finished the work in under an hour, allowing myself to mull over my thoughts.

It was hard to believe that Edward had once been a close friend of Alice, Jasper and the rest of them. He seemed so irritating now. One minute he seems indifferent enough towards me, the next he hates the thought of working with me, then the next he's seems to enjoy my company, and then he just… pushes me away.

I wished he would just outright explain what was going through that mind of his, because it would make my life a whole lot easier.

A disturbing pain swallowed me, knowing just who I would've gone to in a situation like this. Renée would've told me exactly what was going on; given me some plausible theory that would've made sense. If there was one thing I could always count on her for, it was advice on boys. Not that I'd had many opportunities to hear from her on that subject.

I could tell that throughout my teenage years, my mother had been slightly disappointed that I wasn't too keen on having a boyfriend. Sure, I'd been asked, but no one had ever really held my attention.

Edward Cullen, on the other hand, was a code that I needed to crack.

I didn't know how I felt about that. I knew that I found him frustrating, but intriguing. Definitely attractive. Rude. Closed-off.

"_Ugh,_" I screamed.

He was clearly driving me insane.

This could not be healthy for my mental stability.

Sighing, I headed downstairs, remembering my decision to cook Charlie dinner from now on. Plus, it would be a good way to distract myself from all of these conflicting thoughts about Edward.

Rummaging through the newly bought groceries and deciding on a meal to cook, I began working out possible combinations, deciding on mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, and a side dish of salad.

_It was definitely better than a hamburger_. Once again, I shook my head at the so-called 'meal' my father had been having almost every day.

* * *

By the time the dinner had finished, Charlie walked in through the front door, hanging his coat on the wall, and walking into the kitchen, inhaling deeply, "Wow Bells, something smells delicious in here."

I grinned, pulling out the various dishes and handing him a plate to serve his dinner onto, "Thanks. I hope it's as good as it smells."

As we both dug in, Charlie's voice rumbled, "How was your first day?"

Normally, I would've replied with a simple 'Fine', but I could tell that Charlie was making an effort to make conversation with me, and my day had actually been pretty eventful.

"Great. I made some friends. Um, Alice Brandon, Rosalie Hale, and their boyfriends," I offered, knowing that since it was a small town, Charlie would most likely know exactly who I was talking about.

Charlie recognized the names, "Good kids. I know their parents. All very close-knit families... None of them have gotten into any trouble."

I wasn't surprised to hear any of what Charlie had said, knowing that most of my newly acquired friends were pretty tame. Even Emmett wouldn't get himself into serious trouble with the law… well unless he did something stupid. Which I reckoned he could.

My thoughts returned to the bronze-haired boy who had recently taken over my thoughts, and I was suddenly hit with a bright idea. One that I was surprised I hadn't thought of earlier. Charlie would have to know _something_ about Edward.

"Hey, Dad," I called on his attention as he looked towards me, halfway through his meal.

Waiting for him to finish chewing, I tried to sound as casual as possible, "Do you know Edward Cullen and his family?"

I avoided eye contact, but Charlie didn't seem to take notice of it, nodding a bit.

"Yeah… Cullen. I met Edward once or twice. Seemed well-mannered," I almost snorted at that.

_Well-mannered my foot. _

"His parents are highly respected people. His father's a big doctor in Port Angeles. Haven't heard much from them in a while. I guess that they're taking it easy these days, not going out so much."

My eyebrows wrinkled together, "What do you mean? Do they never leave the house or something?"

Charlie gave me a look, "No… they just tend to keep to themselves."

I hadn't wanted to be obvious about my curiosity in the Cullen family, but words were spewing out of my mouth before I had time to filter them, "Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"

Now, I'd gotten Charlie wary, "What's with the sudden interest in the Cullens? Bella, I'm not one to gossip - you should know that by now. All I know is that they're very well off, but humble people. Something personal may have happened." He shrugged at the end, continuing to focus on his food.

Well, that had been a bust.

Though I'd gotten a decent amount of information about Edward's family, nothing was significant as to why he had shut off from society. I knew that something personal had happened, but _what? _

Could it really be something so bad that he felt the need to ward everyone off with his rudeness?

I was becoming obsessed with this guy – I needed to take a breather and focus on other things.

Shoveling the food into my mouth, I shook my head, clearing it.

It seemed that as my mind drifted from Edward's piercing green eyes and his poker face, it only wandered into even more dangerous territory.

As Charlie finished the last bite of his food, I took the plate from him, going over to the sink, taking shallow breaths as I blinked back the prickling behind my eyes.

"Bells, I'm gonna watch the game for a bit. The food was amazing," he patted my head as I hid my face inconspicuously, only nodding in response.

I realized suddenly why I had been so focused on cracking this case with Edward throughout the evening. Yes, I was outlandishly curious in finding out more about him, but focusing all of my energy on him had also distracted me from some of my other probing thoughts.

Thinking about Edward, I momentarily forgot about my mother.

It was crazy and terrifying how this one guy was unknowingly lessening my pain.

I wasn't sure whether I should've been thrilled or alarmed.

* * *

**A/N: So, again, this story is ALL HUMAN if any of you start wondering whether Edward's a vampire and that's why he's being so distant with Bella. Trust me, it's for a completely different reason and you all will eventually find out what that reason is. **

**It was super weird for me to write this chapter, since I'm used to writing about Edward and Bella immediately liking each other and whatever. So, I'm hoping I got this right!**

**Oh and another thing: the only people who are related to each other in this story are Jasper and Rosalie. Emmett, Alice, and Edward are not related to each other in any way. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) reviews are awesome *wink* *wink***

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for all of the alerts/ favourites!**

**Thank you to these awesome people for reviewing: _SapphiRubiCrys, cbmorefie, Em2017, anglealice, BlueHummingbird8, TwilighterSam1989, theresa24, crissy cullen, sujari6, _and _Monyetta_!**

* * *

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Twilight._

* * *

Chapter 4

Bella 

The week passed by without event, and I found myself growing closer and closer to my group of friends with every new fact I learned about them. Emmett and Alice were a bit overwhelming on their own, but Rosalie and Jasper balanced their craziness out perfectly.

I was sort of in the middle personality-wise.

School had just ended, and we were starting off the weekend with a huge shopping spree in the city.

Charlie had been surprisingly open to the idea of me going to Port Angeles with a bunch of people that I'd just met, but he knew all of their families personally, so I guessed that he knew that I was in safe hands.

There were mixed feelings of dread and excitement in going on a shopping trip. While it would definitely be nice to hang out with friends – something I hadn't done in a while – I had a feeling that Alice got a bit carried away with the whole 'shopping' deal. And though I thought of Rosalie as the sane one out of the two, I knew that she got a bit excited as well whenever she saw a 'Sale' sign. The boys had educated me on the matter, wanting to prepare me as much for what was in store.

We all piled into Emmett's burgundy Jeep Wrangler, and I fit comfortably beside Rosalie and Alice while Emmett and Jasper stayed up front.

"There's a 'twenty-five percent-off' sale at Nordstrom that we _have _to check out. I will _die_ if I don't get my hands on those Steve Madden boots soon," Alice fisted her hands together, eyes wild.

_Well, that was dramatic. _

Rosalie, noticing my apprehension, was quick to explain, "Alice went a bit overboard on the shopping last month, and her dad lowered her credit card limit, so she's been living off of sales for the past few weeks. She couldn't buy a pair of shoes that she _really_ wanted – as you can see – so now she's hoping that they're on sale."

Though it eased my anxiety slightly about shopping with the pixie, I was still shocked at how one person could get so hyped up over clothes and shoes. I just didn't get it, and I probably never would.

* * *

The drive wasn't as long as I had expected it to be, but that was mainly due to the fact that Emmett rarely obeyed speed limits and driving regulations, unlike myself.

Hopping out of the car, I took a moment to gather myself, feeling slightly dizzy after that eventful car ride. Alice took a great big inhale, "Ah, the sweet smell of fabric and footwear."

I was taken aback, shooting her a look as if she'd just gone mental, which she ignored. Emmett gave me a sympathetic smile, knowing that I was new to all of this, while they were all used to it, "Believe it or not: this is _normal_ for her. You should see her when she's actually crazy."

"You're kidding," I stated, watching Alice skip towards the glass doors of the mall as Jasper and Rosalie followed close behind. Emmett and I lagged, "I wish I was, Bella. I wish I was."

As he stared off into the distance melodramatically, I couldn't help but laugh, smacking Emmett on his shoulder as he laughed along with me. It felt natural to do that, which was odd to me, because even with people that I'd surrounded myself with for years, any form of physical contact had been awkward.

_Yup, I was definitely sticking with these guys. _

After catching up with Alice – she walked surprisingly fast for such a small person - we all immediately headed for Nordstrom. It was a natural reaction for all of us to go straight there after the way Alice had reacted in the car over finding her dream shoes.

While she frantically search aisle upon aisle for them, the rest of us branched off.

The boys ended up making up some lame excuse fifteen minutes into the search, saying that they had just remembered that Emmett needed to buy something for his cousin who was flying in to visit for a week. Jasper, ever the helpful friend, was tagging along.

I sent them a pleading look, like, "Don't leave me here alone!" And as soon Jasper opened his mouth to invite me to come, Alice shot him a warning look.

"I'm letting you guys go, but only if you come back in an hour to carry my bags," I didn't miss the fact that she said _bags_ and not bag. "Bella stays here."

Her voice rung out with a hint of finality, and Jasper and Emmett both threw me apologetic looks as I slumped, realizing that they couldn't help me out of this one.

Assuming that it would be quite torturous to actually be around Alice while she was shopping, I chose to keep my distance, though I stayed within the same store. I had a feeling that if I stayed too close in her vicinity that she'd only make me try on a bunch of clothes. I wanted to avoid that.

And only whilst perusing the jeans selection did I realize my fatal mistake once coming into contact with the one and only… Jessica Stanley.

_Well, FML. _

"Bella! What are you doing here?" she asked, flipping her curly chestnut hair out of her face, as a blond came to stand beside her. I believed that her name was Lauren, but my mind was fuzzy on any other details about her.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her question. What _else_ does one do at a mall besides shop?

Shrugging, I mustered up a polite smile, "Nothing, really. I'm here with some friends, just browsing."

Her eyes squinted at that, "Oh? Who are you with?" Lauren, who had been busying herself looking at a pair of washed out jeans, immediately perked up hearing Jessica's question.

After a few moments, I figured she'd find out soon enough, replying with, "Rosalie and Alice."

Her expression naturally hardened at that, and again, I somehow found it in me to not roll my eyes at this girl. It was so unbelievably cliché that she was jealous of my ability to befriend the 'popular' people in school before her.

_Were people seriously that shallow?_

I received my answer with Jessica's fake smile, "_Oh_. You know, you might think that they're your friends, but just remember that they don't let _anyone_ into their little group. Soon enough, they're just gonna drop you, like they did with Edward."

She _actually_ thought I was stupid. Edward had left _them. _Maybe if she'd told me this prior to meeting Edward, I would've believed her. But it was kind of easy to tell that Edward was the one who had ditched his friends, not the other way around.

Though I tried to not let her words get to me, it stung a bit hearing her inference that I wasn't good enough to be hanging out with them.

"Bella, I was looking all over for you! Alice wanted to – Oh," as soon as Rosalie's grey eyes fell on Jessica, her expression went ice-cold.

Jessica, immediately knowing that she was unwelcome, began turning away, but not before throwing me a smile, "Nice seeing you, Bella. And don't forget what I said."

As she stalked off in her too-short skirt with Lauren in tow, Rosalie turned towards me, aiming her finger at Jessica's retreating form.

"Okay, whatever that bitch told you is a bunch of lies," Rosalie said seriously, as my eyes widened a bit at her blatant hostility. So, I guess my assumptions about Jessica had been spot-on.

Smiling a little, I responded honestly, "I figured. She just made it seem like you guys were gonna drop me like dead weight eventually. Then, she used Edward as an example…" I trailed off, hoping she'd catch the drift that I hadn't bought any of it.

Rosalie's eyes softened at my answer, and any previous doubts I'd had about her or the others losing interest in me fell away, "Bella, you know that's not true, right? Even though I've only known you for a week, I already feel like I can trust you with anything. And I know that everyone else feels the same."

"As for Edward. Well, I know that you asked about him, and Alice gave you the rundown already?" she asked for confirmation.

I nodded, knowing that she wished to say more, waiting for her to continue.

"Last year, around summertime, we noticed that he was drifting away from us, but we really didn't think anything of it. We thought he was just having a mood and he'd be back to normal by the time school reopened.

"Well, we received the shock of our lives when he didn't even _acknowledge_ us. And when we tried to sit with him at lunch on the first day, he just stared us down with this death glare and walked off to sit by himself."

"He annoyed me for a lot of the time that I was friends with him, but I wouldn't trade his friendship for the world. He would do anything for me if I asked, and I would do the same in a heartbeat. That's what made it so hard when he just froze us out and acted like we didn't exist. It especially hurt seeing him make more conversation with strangers over us."

My eyebrows scrunched together seeing this side of Rosalie, so unfamiliar to me. In the time that I'd known her, I thought of her as strong, independent and unbreakable. Now here she was, peeling off her armor.

I couldn't help it; I wrapped my arms around her, as she hugged me back gratefully, "I don't know if it was something we did, but I'm sure it wasn't. I mean, I think he's gotten used to my harsh humor, and I never go that far. I'm just worried that there's something deeper going on that's really affecting him."

Her words sent a sharp stab of guilt through my chest, as my mind went reeling back to when I'd snapped at him in Biology that first day of school. Sure I figured something was going on, but hearing Rosalie's description of Edward's sudden drastic change in personality made me see a whole new side of things.

One where I felt less curious about Edward, and more pitiful.

Maybe his grandfather had died. Who was I to judge for his rude and distant behavior?

_Great. Now I felt awful. _

Maybe this hug was more for me than it was for her.

As we broke apart, I noticed that her eyes had watered slightly, but she quickly dabbed at them while I pretended not to notice. I knew how much I hated for people to see me cry, and Rosalie deserved the respect.

* * *

As we walked back towards Alice, an immediate smile swiped across my face replacing my somber expression, seeing that she was _literally _hidden behind a pile of clothes.

Rosalie was equally as amused as we both went over to relieve her of some of the items, which she had been handling with surprising strength.

Clearly, Alice was full of surprises.

"Here, Bella, I picked up some clothes for you to try on. I figured that you aren't much of a shopper, but I didn't think you'd meet me back here _empty-handed_," she looked appalled at the thought of me not picking up at least a few items of clothing, and all I could do was laugh at her quirkiness.

"Sorry, I just didn't see anything that caught my eye," I shrugged, taking at least ten different outfits with me to the dressing rooms as Alice and Rose trailed behind.

I could hear them whispering amongst themselves, and already knew that Rosalie was recounting our encounter with Jessica to her. A few seconds later, Alice shocked me when she ran up and squeezed me in the tightest hug I'd ever received. I was pretty sure she'd cut off my air supply, actually.

"Bella, I love you like a sister. Even more now after you comforted Rose. Even though it's been a year, Edward's dismissal on us has been hard, in case you haven't noticed. But we're all so happy that we've found you," my heart warmed hearing her kind words, and I thanked her, genuinely appreciating the love.

My brief moment of insecurity after Jessica's suggestion now felt like such a silly reaction. In a way, Jessica had sort of been right: my newfound friends were extremely selective about who they hung out with. Apparently, I had made the cut. And I was happy I had.

We each walked into our own dressing room, and rather than being astounded that everything Alice had chosen for me fit perfectly and was actually my taste, I simply accepted the fact that she had a seriously great intuition.

I usually avoided dresses unless absolutely necessary, but I actually found myself twirling around in the short sundress she'd chosen for me, along with the longer formal gown.

Rather than leave it out, I decided to buy it, figuring it would come in handy for any of the school dances I'd be forced to attend (Alice and Rosalie seemed like the type of girls who loved those types of festivities).

Everything was within a good range in terms of pricing, and I threw Alice a huge, appreciative smile for being so conscious as she only grinned, laughing, "Hey, I'm on a budget too. I think I'm actually getting used to it."

We walked around some more, ending up meeting the boys at the video game store.

Seeing at least five different games in each bag that they'd picked up, I asked, "Did you find something for your cousin in there?"

Emmett threw me a confused look, "What?"

Then, Rosalie obviously connecting the dots that Emmett had simply been lying to get away from us, smacked him behind the head as Jasper shot him a look like, _"Are you stupid?" _

I kind of felt bad for throwing Emmett under the bus with that one, but I'd thought that he would've at least gone along with the act. Apparently, he wasn't good at keeping track of his excuses.

He pouted at me as I made a genuine 'Oops' face, "Sorry Em. I thought you would've played along."

He only laughed, brushing the entire thing off, "It's okay Bells." Then he ruffled my hair, making me frown, and causing his laughter to double, as people around the mall threw us weird looks.

"Okay, so where are we off to now?" Rosalie asked, looking down the hall, as a collective groan sounded from the boys and myself, while Alice squealed, clapping her hands together.

"Well, I heard Zara is having a sale as well…"

And so the rest of the day passed by in a similar manner. Though I was absolutely exhausted by the time they all dropped me off at my house, I was beyond happy with the way the day had turned out.

I felt satisfied in knowing what a wonderful group of friends I'd managed to stumble upon, wondering how on Earth I'd come to deserve them.

Of course, the one nagging thought that had stayed with me throughout the entire day was the ever-elusive Edward Cullen.

_What was I going to do about him?_

* * *

**A/N: Sooo… how was that?**

**I thought of letting Edward make an appearance, but in the end, decided against it. I wanted the chapter to be dedicated more on Bella growing close to everyone. I feel like I haven't really done that much in my other stories, so I'm hoping to change that with this one. **

**We're seeing the change in Bella's feelings for Edward, slowly but surely… At least now she doesn't think of him as a total jerk. **

**For now.**

**Leave me a review, maybe? :)**

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for all the alerts/favorites!**

**And thank you to these cool people for reviewing: _sujari6, Nissa-Cullen, HockeyChick10, anglealice, Em2017, ruth . vandebroek, TwilighterSam1989, BlueHummingbird8, SapphiRubiCrys, cbmorefie, _and _Monyetta. _**

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight._

* * *

Chapter 5

Bella

Heading into school the next Monday, I still had no idea what I was going to do about the whole Edward situation. Of course, I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior, and I hoped that he would apologize in turn for his.

But of course, that would be wishful thinking. From what I'd seen of Edward, he didn't look to be someone who liked to show a lot of emotion.

_Was he even capable of showing remorse? _

_He's not a robot, Bella! _I mentally chided myself for where my thoughts had drifted.

Still, I didn't know what to say or do. I hadn't exactly been overly friendly towards him when I'd first met him. Cringing, I thought back to the first thing that I'd said – or rather, barked - to him in Biology. Maybe if I'd tried breaking the ice a bit, things may have gone a bit better in that area….

"Hey guys," I smiled, walking up to Jasper, Emmett, Alice and Rosalie, who all grinned back.

"Ready to begin another brutal week at school?" Rosalie smiled sarcastically, as I laughed.

_Oh, the irony._ She didn't even realize how brutal my week was going to be starting off, since I was going to attempt to make up for my impolite behavior towards Edward.

I hadn't told my friends about Edward. After seeing the way Rosalie and Alice had behaved when I'd simply _mentioned_ his name, it had made me immediately write off any kind of conversation I'd been planning to have with them about their old friend.

It was all up to me.

* * *

The day had passed by without event, and I found myself relaxing, believing that things with Edward would pass just like my day had – calmly.

Walking into Biology, I headed straight for the back of the classroom, towards the mop of bronze hair that had already become familiar to me in the past week.

As I sat down, pulling my books out, I took an exaggerated breath, gathering all of my will power, as I slowly began turning towards him.

I was almost queasy with anxiety, but somehow, I managed to muster out a, "Hi."

Edward looked up from his books, staring at me blankly. I knew that he was surprised, from the way his eyes had shifted on me warily, but besides that, his expression remained perfectly tranquil – unlike my nerves.

"So… how was your weekend?" my question came out slowly and I actually inwardly cringed at the brilliant conversation-starter I'd come up with.

Edward blinked, holding my gaze for a few seconds.

I found myself growing hopeful that he would speak up and actually tell me about his two days away from school. But then he blinked again, jaw clenching as he turned back towards his books.

_Well, alright then. _

I guess apologizing and attempting to make things up to Edward was not going to be happening easily.

But what had I really expected? That he would smile, and shake the whole thing off?

Although he had been unresponsive as ever, I couldn't find it in me to be annoyed with him, only thankful that he hadn't questioned my motives. Now _that_ would've been uncomfortable.

What would I have said? _Oh, yeah, I felt really bad for screaming at you last week. Plus, I have this weird, insatiable need to learn more about you and find out why you're so mysterious and guarded._

Yeah, somehow… I didn't see that going down so well.

Soon enough, Mr. Banner began the class and started handing out microscopes at each desk, as I inwardly groaned. This past week in Biology had been spent taking notes and answering questions in class. I had basically had absolutely no reason for contact with Edward whatsoever.

Until now.

And with the way things had gone with our conversation, I could just imagine how _brilliantly_ this lab was going to pass.

There was a sheet that each pair had to fill out and submit at the end of class, and Mr. Banner suggested that one partner do half of the work, leaving the rest for the other partner.

I glanced over at Edward, as he glanced back at me. Then, he sighed, "I'll do the first half."

I actually had to take a second to collect myself, forgetting how musical yet masculine his voice sounded. Blinking, I made sure my mouth was closed as I observed him begin the work.

I had almost wanted to speak up and suggest that we do the activity together, but decided against it, knowing that this was probably the most cooperation I would be getting from Edward.

We barely said more than three words to each other after that, and they were all centered on the task at hand, which was completing the lab correctly and handing in the assignment.

I hadn't really figured out that much about Edward in the past week, having been intent on focusing on the class… and essentially avoiding him. But now that I watched his motions, as he looked into the microscope, jotting down answers – in a neat script, no less – I gathered that he was actually pretty smart.

Although he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, for some reason, I just couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from him. He had noticed my staring by this point, but I was surprised when he chose to ignore it.

When it eventually came to be my turn, I finished the rest of the questions in record time, leaving the two of us sitting silently at our desks while almost everyone else struggled with the second question.

And then I mentally shrugged, _Oh, what the heck._

"I wanted to… apologize for shouting at you last week. Even though you were unnecessarily rude, I had no right to call you out on something when I know nothing about you," I looked down at my desk while saying all of this, absentmindedly tracing my fingers along the edges of the wood.

It felt like hours before he responded, and by the time he did, I had looked up at him to make sure he had actually heard my apology.

Taking note of his expression, I was pretty startled by what I saw. I had expected acceptance, shock, and confusion even. But I hadn't expected frustration. Pure frustration. As if he was having some inner battle with himself over what he should say in response.

Finally, "You shouldn't have apologized."

Staring, I waited for him to elaborate.

"I don't want you getting the impression that there's a possibility for us to become friends in the future. Because there isn't."

And suddenly, I was wishing that he hadn't explained.

What do you even _say_ in response to something like that?

That's right: nothing. You can't say anything.

All I could do was look in the opposite direction as I took a shaky breath, focusing intently on Eric's greasy hair to distract me from thinking about Edward's words. Because the truth was: they had winded me. I had actually felt the air escape my lungs and the back of my eyes prickle.

Any previous thoughts I'd had of getting to know Edward immediately vanished. I didn't understand why I'd thought even for a second that he would break his walls down for me. If he didn't want to be friends, then I was going to respect his wishes one hundred per cent.

Avoiding all contact with Edward for the remainder of the class, I couldn't even stress how long it took for those minutes to tick by.

* * *

Rosalie immediately picked up on my disenchantment as soon as I'd gotten changed for Gym – the torture for today was basketball… _yay_ – and creased her eyebrows.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen in Biology? Was it Jessica?" Rosalie's face hardened at that as a thin line formed across her lips. I couldn't help it – hearing Rosalie's obvious concern made a small smile form across my face.

"No, it's nothing. We just had a really long lab to do, and it got me pretty drained," I half-lied. If it weren't for the fact that Alice soon interrupted us, Rosalie probably would've questioned me further.

I was a terrible liar, and it was quite evident that she'd seen right through me.

However, I was thankful that Alice had allowed for a distraction, because I really didn't want to recount the events of Biology to Rosalie. Actually, I didn't want to recount them to anyone – ever.

If I allowed myself to think about Edward's words for too long, and how unbearably cold his tone had sounded, I would have to urge to curl up into a ball and cry.

And I really didn't want that.

So, I busied myself during Gym by making a complete fool out of myself, as per usual.

I didn't even think it was possible, but somehow I managed to throw the ball in the direction of the bleachers, making it rebound off of one of the chairs and fly straight into my face.

"Bella," Emmett couldn't get words out through his laughter, "How – hahaha – are you so terrible. It's unreal."

I'd gotten used to playful jabs from my classmates back in Phoenix, and it was lucky that I found humor in my clumsiness, as I only found myself laughing along with Emmett as Jasper handed me an icepack for my forehead. A small bump had formed, but with the icepack on it, I could already feel it gradually healing.

The girls hadn't been in the game, but immediately rushed to me to make sure that I was all right. Once realizing that I was perfectly fine, they too, were unable to hold their laughter in.

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine. Go right ahead and find entertainment in my pain," my tone was dripping with sarcasm as I rolled my eyes.

The coach, obviously, allowed me to sit the game out after that, almost looking awed at my ability to hurt myself without even trying. _Yeah, you and me both, sir._

Watching my friends run and shoot basketballs into nets for the remainder of the period, we all gravitated towards the changing rooms once the final bell rang. While waiting for Rosalie and Alice to get out of the showers, I leaned behind the lockers, only mildly paying attention to the conversations going on around me.

"… Jacob Black's party… so hot… next Saturday…" I peeped around the lockers, watching a group of girls my age conversing and giggling at the mention of Jacob's name.

So, apparently he was quite the ladies man.

Hmm. I hadn't really gotten that vibe from him, though. Maybe it was just me.

Anyway, seeing Rose and Alice grab their bags, I followed suit, making my way out of the changing rooms as Alice immediately bounded towards Jasper, while Rosalie stayed behind with me.

"I can tell something's off with you, Bella. And don't tell me it's nothing," Rosalie's stormy grey eyes settled on mine as I visibly gulped at the threatening look she was giving me.

So apparently my plan of forgetting my ominous Biology class wasn't looking like an option anymore.

It took me a while to collect my thoughts, and I tried my hardest to be as detached as possible when I spoke, "I didn't tell you guys, because I didn't want to make things awkward or anything. Edward and I are lab partners in Biology," I started off. I managed to become so emotionally disconnected with the story that I didn't even feel my eyes prickle with tears like before, much like I'd thought they would.

And I was glad for that, because I really hated crying in front of other people.

By the end of my explanation, Rosalie's eyes looked conflicted, and I pressed for her to tell me what was going through her mind. Eventually, she spoke, "I'm sorry… it's just so weird to hear about that side of him. The thing is, even though I'd normally beat the crap out of him for saying something like that to you, I think -"

Rosalie stopped herself short, as I raised my eyebrows, "No. Tell me. What?"

Biting her lip, she answered, "I've never seen him act this way. Ever. Last year, after everything had changed and he drifted away from us, he was never outright a _douche_ to us. He'd just… ignore us."

She spoke slowly, "Maybe…"

I urged her to continue - practically dying for her to stop being so cryptic - as she gave me a funny look, "I know you're probably not gonna like what I'm about to tell you. But I think he's trying really hard to push you away – too hard. Almost as if… he doesn't want to."

A weird kind of smile passed across her face, as I faced ahead, gnawing the inside of my mouth. I understood what she was trying to tell me, but at the same time, I didn't want to.

There was no way in hell that Edward Cullen could have feelings for me.

No way.

You didn't just tell the person you like that you want them to leave you alone. That doesn't make any sense at all.

And why was my stomach exploding with butterflies at the prospect of Edward liking me? I shouldn't feel this way. I should hate him.

…But I didn't. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't let myself feel anger towards him, even after everything he'd said to me.

* * *

By the time I arrived home, all I wanted to was collapse onto my bed, and hope that this day had never happened.

I even tried pinching myself to make sure this wasn't all some majorly screwed up dream, but alas, only when my skin looked as if it was permanently bright red did I realize that I was awake. Unfortunately.

All I wanted to do was go back to my boring life in Phoenix. When I had been invisible. When my mom had been there to comfort me and tell me that everything was going to turn out all right.

I pressed my palms to my face, taking deep breaths as I collected myself.

You know when you cry even though you're not sad? You're just overwhelmingly frustrated and crying seems to be the only thing you can do?

Well, that's how I felt.

Only when I heard the sound of a car speeding through my street did I realize that I had other priorities in my life.

Careful not to trip down the stairs, I made my way into the kitchen, thinking of a meal that would require the most effort to make. In other words, something that would command all of my focus, which currently seemed to be set on Edward and his stupid green eyes.

My meal of choice was chicken stew, salad, and a macaroni pie, which thankfully, did take all of my concentration to make.

By the time Charlie arrived home, I had already showered and set the dishes out.

"I could really get used to having my meals cooked for me every day," Charlie commented, beginning to dive into his food as a satisfied smile formed across my lips.

"Oh! And I almost forgot to tell you: Billy's son, Jacob – the one who dropped off your truck for you – is having a get together at the reservation next weekend. It's his birthday, and he'd really love it if you could make it. He said you can bring some of your friends as well, if you want," he nodded, continuing to pile food onto his fork, stuffing it into his mouth.

"Oh," was all I could get out, genuinely surprised that Jacob had invited me, when I barely even knew him.

Seeing Charlie's persistent gaze on me, I sighed, "Sure. I'll ask Alice and the others if they're interested in going."

Charlie's eyes were smiling, as he swallowed, sipping on the glass of water I'd set in front of him, "Great! I'll let Billy know."

It was stupid and probably completely irrational, but I had a feeling that something was going to happen at this party. It wasn't a good feeling, but it wasn't a bad feeling either.

_When on Earth did my life start getting so interesting?_

* * *

**A/N: I know these chapters are pretty short, so I'm sorry if they're not that satisfying. But I'm waiting for the action-packed chapters to put all of my energy into. **

**How was this chapter though? Shocking? Confusing? Both? My favourite part was Rosalie's little suggestion to Bella. **

**Sorry that I wasn't able to post on Saturday… but with the whole 'leaving-my-laptop-in-school' thing, it was kind of impossible. On the bright side, my laptop was safe and sound in my locker, and I am unbelievably happy that it wasn't stolen. **

**Anyway! Please leave some of those amazing reviews ;) My exams start next week, so I can use a bit of cheering up. **

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for all of the alerts & favourites!**

**And thank you to these awesometacular people for reviewing: _TwilighterSam1989, anglealice, cbmorefie, BlueHummingbird8, Em2017_, and _Monyetta_. **

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight._

* * *

Chapter 6

Bella 

For the remainder of the week, and most of the following week, I satisfied Edward's wishes and completely ignored him. Even when doing assignments together, I'd either shake my head or nod, avoiding eye contact.

I didn't want to think about what he'd said to me, and I especially didn't want to explore the reasons as to _why_ he'd been so outwardly cold to me.

But no matter how hard I tried, Rosalie's words kept echoing in my mind: _he's trying really hard to push you away – too hard. Almost as if… he doesn't want to. _

It was now Friday, the day before Jacob's party, and as Mr. Banner proceeded to give out a long, detailed description of the lab we were to do that day, I zoned out, my mind on other things – like the guy sitting next to me with his hands curled into fists.

Only after Mr. Banner began passing out the microscopes and… _needles_, and classmates began pricking themselves with _said_ needles, did I seriously regret not paying attention to my teacher's words.

The salty, rusting smell of blood soon wafted through my nose as I shut my eyes, taking shallow breaths through my mouth. My stomach churned queasily and I began feeling the blood drain from my face.

As my classmates began whispering to themselves, starting the assignment, I heard a smooth voice speak from beside me, surprising me, "Bella, do you need to go the nurse?"

I didn't pay attention to his tone of voice; I didn't even pay attention to the fact that I was supposed to be avoiding Edward. I was just completely desperate to get out of the classroom, so I nodded vigorously, keeping my eyes shut, hands going to cover my nose.

"Mr. Banner," Edward called for the attention of our teacher. "I think Bella's having a bad response to the sight of blood."

Apparently, Mr. Banner didn't need to hear anything more, directing Edward to help carry me to the nurse's office, as I finally opened my eyes, seeing almost the entire class giving me looks of curiosity, as if this was the weirdest thing in the world for them to witness.

Before I could protest, Edward's hands went to my waist, helping me out of the chair.

I almost wanted to kick myself for only being able to focus on how strong they felt around me – not painful, just… secure.

We made it out of the door with one of Edward's arms around my waist, and I instantly took a deep breath as we walked down the hallway, before proceeding out of the main doors and into the fresh air.

I couldn't quite get the nauseating smell out of my nose, but the fresh air was definitely helping a bit.

Apparently, I had overestimated the effects of the fresh air, as my body was soon hit with another wave of sickness, and I stopped walking, "I need to lay down."

Edward's arm left my waist – I didn't read too much into how reluctant the action seemed to be - as I began to lay across the bench, bringing my knees up since my entire body couldn't fit.

Once again, my eyes closed shut as I slowly began regaining my composure. It was only as my mind started racing back to when I'd initially gotten sick did I think back to something Edward had said that had bothered me.

"The sight of blood doesn't make me sick," I stated.

Edward had been silent, and I couldn't exactly infer what he was feeling seeing as my eyes were closed.

But he was definitely confused at my sudden declaration, probably assuming that I was delirious, "What?"

"The sight of blood doesn't make me sick," I repeated, monotonous. Sighing, I wrinkled my nose, "The smell does."

If possible, Edward only sounded even more puzzled as he responded, "You can _smell_ blood?"

I was unnaturally calm as I explained, "It smells like rusting metal. Kind of salty and…"

Another swell of nausea came as I continued my deep breaths, and only after a minute did I decide to open my eyes and finally note Edward's facial expression.

Now _I_ was confused.

He looked concerned, and worried, and then when I opened my eyes and looked at him, he seemed… relieved.

And then before I knew it, his face molded into an expression of apathy, and I was once again feeling overwhelmingly frustrated. Unable to help myself, I sighed, "Why do you always do that?"

Edward cocked a brow, keeping his expression neutral though his eyes showed interest, "Do what?"

"You _know_ what. Show emotion then immediately shut it off once I notice. Why can't you just pick one: either act like a normal person or be a machine. You can't be both, Edward."

My words seemed to strike a chord in Edward, as his mouth clamped shut, jaw clenching.

If I wasn't so mad, I would've seriously been attracted to him at that moment. Heck, I was mad at _and_ attracted to him at the same time. I inwardly groaned at the conflicting emotions this guy was constantly putting me through on a regular basis. Having had enough of this exasperating interaction, I made a move to stand up.

"I want to go home," was all the explanation I gave him.

Despite my efforts to walk to the nurse by myself, Edward still supported me, and ultimately I was grateful that he had, seeing as another dizzy spell hit me the moment I stood.

We walked in silence to the nurse's office, and once entering the off-white coloured room, the middle-aged woman took one look at my face, immediately allowing me to lie down as she went to get something that would ease my upset stomach.

Edward stayed with me the entire time, arms folded across his chest as he watched me being taken care of. Then, once the nurse had given me something for my faintness, he pulled her off to the side and looked as if he were trying to convince her of something.

After a few minutes, she pursed her lips, before nodding, turning to me, "I just need you to sign something, then Mr. Cullen will be able to drop you home."

The greying lady moved out of the room to collect the aforementioned form, and Edward and I were left in the room alone.

"I'm perfectly capable of driving myself home," I spoke firmly, even though both Edward and I knew that my statement wasn't even remotely true. I just hated the fact that I was some damsel in distress that needed his help.

"I know you are," he was humoring me, probably not wanting to get me ticked off again. "But just to settle my mind, I'd prefer if you let me drive you home."

I bit my lip, and momentarily saw Edward's eyes flicker to it before returning to my eyes.

"Fine," I relented, as the nurse returned, allowing me to the sign the slip of paper as Edward once again guided me to the parking lot, opening the passenger door of a shiny, silver Volvo for me and making sure I got in safely.

Then he went over to the driver's side, starting the engine as I leaned my head against the window, staying silent for the entire ride to my house. Since Forks was so small, everyone pretty much knew where the Chief of Police lived, so it didn't come as too much of a surprise when Edward pulled up to my driveway.

Just as my hand went to the door handle, I heard his voice call softly, "Bella?"

I tried to act nonchalant as I turned towards his face - his perfectly chiseled face - and raised my eyebrows.

There it was again – the neutral expression that barely showcased a single emotion, save for the brief flickers in his emerald-green eyes.

"Have a good weekend," was all he said. He'd wanted to say something else, but obviously, the lame greeting was all that he'd been able to muster out.

And I was disappointed. Severely disappointed.

I sighed, opening the door, "You too."

Then, closing it shut, careful not to slam it - as much as I wanted to - I walked to the front door as Edward's car idled along the driveway. Only when I closed the door behind me did I hear the car peel away from the road.

Too tired to head up to my room, I went straight to the living room, collapsing onto the brown leather sofa. Then, I grabbed the nearest pillow and put it over my face, screaming as hard as I could into it.

When I was satisfied, I removed it from my face, taking a deep breath.

Yup. Edward Cullen was definitely driving me to insanity. Slowly but surely.

* * *

I'd only gotten about an hour of rest in the time after my mini-breakdown, and once waking up, I was genuinely alarmed once I realized that I had received over twenty messages from all of my friends during that time.

_Bella! We heard that you weren't feeling well during Biology. What happened? _

_Who drove you home? Your truck's still at school. _

_Do you want me to drop it off?_

These were just a few of the messages I'd received from Alice, and upon glancing through my phone, I noticed that Rosalie had sent similar ones.

The thing that stood out most in the texts was the issue of my truck. How had I forgotten about my truck? And how was I going to explain the entire ordeal to Charlie. He always got unnecessarily worried whenever I was sick, and I knew this time would be no different.

Biting my lip, I shot back a text to Alice.

I hated burdening people, but I figured that Alice wouldn't have offered unless she hadn't minded:

I'm so sorry I didn't let you guys know what happened. I got a bit queasy during one of the labs in Biology and hitched a ride with Edward – I'll tell you all about that later!

It would actually be a huge help if you could drop my truck off for me. But only if it's not too much for you!

It took seconds for her to reply, and I actually laughed out loud:

_I'm already on my way! Rosalie's coming as well. Hey, we could have a girl's night in! And you bet your butt you're gonna tell me all about the drive home with Edward :O_

Alice was honestly too much sometimes, but I really loved her for it.

I knew Charlie wouldn't mind me having friends over, but I called just in case, explaining that it'd give us the perfect opportunity to be able to head over to La Push tomorrow for Jacob's birthday celebration.

Once Charlie heard that it was just going to be girls, and then when I mentioned Jacob's name, he was pretty much all for the idea. He let me know that he'd be home late anyway, and when he did eventually come home, he'd make sure to stay out of our way.

Charlie hadn't really been a father figure for the majority of my life, but I was happily accepting how hard he was trying to mend our relationship, especially since he was the only family I now had left.

While waiting for Alice and Rosalie to come over, I tidied up my room and any other areas of the house that needed a quick sweep. Although I regularly kept the house in shape, having people over required just a bit more effort - but thankfully, not too much.

By the end of the cleanup, I was satisfied, and feeling a whole lot better since Biology.

I jumped hearing the doorbell ring, opening the door as I was bombarded with two bone-crushing hugs.

"Gym wasn't the same without you!" Alice cried, as I burst out laughing.

"You mean, you guys didn't have anyone to laugh at this time," I shot an accusatory look to both Rose and Alice who smirked to themselves.

"Laugh _with_," Alice corrected. "You always laugh along."

I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face as I let them in, grateful to see that my truck had made the journey home in one piece, though looking like a literal pile of junk next to Rosalie's BMW.

"Thanks for bringing my car back home," I said, as soon as we settled in the living room.

Alice only waved me off, "It was no big deal. We're more interested in what happened during Biology. We want _details_."

She placed her hands under her chin, her icy blue eyes wide as saucers as Rosalie smiled, but looked equally as interested.

And so, I recounted all of the events of the day to my friends, whose jaws opened at all the right times – example: when I called Edward out for his mood swings. I had expected all of the girl talk - especially when it was focused on Edward, who happened to be their ex-best friend – to be weird. Entirely weird.

But everything was perfectly nonchalant. I felt like I had been going to Rosalie and Alice with all of my problems for my whole life.

Rather than be super awkward hearing about Edward, they were both eager to try to figure out what was going through his mind. Almost as much as me.

I hated to admit it, but it was nice to have two extra people around to help me analyze the situation. I had felt overwhelmingly conflicted with everything that was going on, so it was nice to be able to sort out my emotions and think of everything practically and logically.

"Okay, so you said that he looked concerned about you, but then once you caught him staring at you, he just flipped the switch off his emotions," Rosalie clarified, as I nodded.

"Bella, this is exactly what I was saying last week. Edward has _obviously_ got eyes for you!" Rosalie exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, as I put my face into my hands. I had been hoping she wouldn't say that.

Hearing a glass-shattering squeal next to me, I now _really _wished she hadn't said that.

"Oh my gosh, how did I _not_ see that? It's so obvious!" Alice agreed, as I shook my head.

"Guys, that's impossible," I countered, though I really didn't have any evidence to support my answer, which Alice immediately took advantage of.

"Okay, if it's so impossible, then _you_ try to explain it. Bella, he never left your side in the nurse's office. He drove you home. And the biggest thing: he looked like he had wanted to tell you something just as he dropped you off," Alice screamed.

"He said so himself: he just wanted the peace of mind that I would reach home safely. There's nothing romantic about that," I shrugged, as both Rosalie and Alice gave me blank looks, as if they were talking to someone with the IQ of an infant.

"It's been a year since we've had any form of contact with Edward. Not just us - he barely ever talks to anyone. If Lauren or Jessica had been his lab partner and they had gotten sick, he wouldn't have paid them half as much attention as he did with you," Rosalie stated, as I sighed.

"Explain how he could flawlessly hide his emotions from us, with no slip-ups, but with you, he's constantly struggling with hiding," Rosalie continued, moving her blond hair over her shoulder as she raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I just say things that surprise him. It doesn't necessarily mean that he… _likes_ me," I ended, not even able to get the last words out without feeling a thrill run through my entire body.

"Oh. My. God," Alice froze, staring right at me. I tried to act casual, but the 'deer-in-headlights' look still managed to appear on my face.

"You totally like him back!" she accused, pointing a slim finger towards me, mouth agape before a wide grin swept across her face.

"Do you?" Rosalie asked, seriously this time, though there was a hint of a smile on her face.

I made a sound of discomfort, throwing my head against the foot of the couch I was leaning on, "I don't know! Maybe… Kind of?"

Then, sighing, I whispered softly, "Yes."

I had anticipated it, but two loud screams immediately sounded from both Rosalie and Alice.

"You guys would be so _cute. _Ugh, why does Edward have to be such an idiot?" Alice muttered the last part to herself, as I giggled.

"I'm so glad that you're at least getting something out of him. Unlike us," Rosalie rolled her eyes, as I smiled.

"Honestly, all I'm doing is pissing him off, which is all in response to _him_ pissing me off. He has yet to show signs that he likes me, which I'm pretty certain he doesn't," I responded.

Rosalie immediately stepped back in, shaking her head, "Uh uh. We are _not _going back to square one. Edward definitely likes you. There are literally signs everywhere, but you just don't want to see them.

"And he can't tell you that he likes you because then it'd force him to show his personality, and for some reason, he just can't seem to do that."

"Yeah, but what's the reason?" I slumped, as a collective sigh went around the room.

That was the problem. None of us knew. And none of us _would_ know unless he told us, and that didn't seem to be something that Edward wanted to do.

* * *

**A/N: This was one of my favourites to write (so far). **

**I'm curious to know what you guys think is Edward's big secret. **

**Leave me a review letting me know your ideas, and how you found this chapter was! **

**I actually love writing about this side of Edward, but I don't think that I'll be writing about it for much longer (that's a hint as to what might come in the next chapters).**

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for all the alerts & favourites!**

**Thank you to these really cool people for reviewing: _SapphiRubyCrys, anglealice, HockeyChick10, TwilighterSam1989, cbmorefie, sujari6, Em2017, Monyetta_, and _BlueHummingbird8_. **

* * *

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Twilight, nor will I ever. _

* * *

Chapter 7

Bella 

The rest of night after the whole 'Edward-discussion' passed by smoothly, avoiding all topics related to the person in question. We were all getting frustrated with the subject, me more than the others for obvious reasons.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a sleepover where I'd felt comfortable enough spilling my guts to some friends, but throughout the night, I found myself talking about things that I'd normally felt extremely awkward to talk about before.

Like my first and only kiss – which was _horrendous_, mind you. I was thirteen. He was my best friend's brother, and he'd happened to have a crush on me for the longest while.

But me, oblivious as ever, had completely missed that – Alice and Rosalie had given me pointed looks when I'd confessed this part, relating it to my situation with Edward now, and I'd waved them off in response.

Anyway, the guy's feelings towards me had come as a complete shock, and I'd ended up feeling so bad for not reciprocating that I _cried. _

Yeah, I wasn't exaggerating when I'd said 'horrendous'.

I found out all about how Rosalie and Emmett had met, and actually despised each other initially. That was, of course, until Emmett had defended her from some hormone-crazed teenage boy. Then they'd become friends, and eventually, Emmett had confessed that he'd always had a thing for Rosalie.

_Cute. _

Alice and Jasper were a completely different story. Apparently, the moment they'd met, Alice had instantly known that Jasper and her were meant to be together. And although the normal response to that is to be severely creeped out, Jasper accepted Alice instantly.

_Cute times two. _

By the time we woke up the next morning, it was already midday. Surprisingly, the three of us had all fit comfortably on my bed when the time had come for us to hit the sack – that time was three in the morning. We hadn't just talked for the duration of the night, we'd also jammed out to some music. Then, when we'd gotten tired of that, we'd watched The Breakfast Club, and a few episodes of American Horror Story.

Yeah, it had been a pretty good night, all in all.

Charlie had already left for work by the time we all got up, taking turns showering and getting dressed causally in some skinny jeans and t-shirts.

Our plan was to hit the mall, grab some breakfast at the Starbucks there, shop around for some outfits and accessories, then head over to Rosalie's house, where we'd get dressed for Jacob's party.

We would be meeting the boys there.

* * *

Once arriving at the mall, I grabbed some coffee and a bagel to go along with it, finishing both within minutes. Then, the girls and I started to walk around the shops, trying on outfit after outfit. I ended up finding the perfect attire for he get-together between Aldo and Urban Outfitters, while Rosalie and Alice continued on in their search.

"I'll meet you guys back here in an hour?" I asked, wanting to wander around some more since I'd already found what I had been looking for.

Alice and Rose, both wrapped up in their own worlds, only nodded, hoping that they'd find their outfits during that time.

It wasn't as if we had nothing else to wear to Jacob's party – we had, after all, only _just_ gone on a huge shopping spree two weeks before - but we figured it would be a great way to pass the time between now and when we had to leave.

My feet seemed to carry me aimlessly through the medium-sized mall, and somehow, I ended up in a small antique shop, gliding through the aisles.

I was becoming quite interested in an Indian table that I would have absolutely no use for, when I heard a gentle voice speaking on the phone, "Yes, I've only now arrived. I'll check in with you if I find anything that catches my eye."

Something about her tone of voice sounded vaguely familiar, and when I looked to the side, I was met with the sight of flowing caramel-coloured hair and amber eyes. Dressed in a suit composed of fitted pants and a shirt, she was gorgeous for a woman looking to be in her early forties.

Something about her presence was incredibly inviting, and I found myself smiling back when she beamed at me.

After a few moments, I moved over to look at other items in the store, and once again heard the woman's voice.

Except this time, it seemed to be directed towards me.

"I hate to ask you this, but I feel like I need a woman's input. I only have boys living with me, so they're absolutely no help when it comes to decorating the house. I'm having trouble finding a coffee table for the living room, and there are so many choices in this shop - I'm just not sure which one would work best."

First Rosalie, now her. _Maybe I should make a living out of this._ _Did everyone want advice from me on things to buy?_

I smiled a little to myself at my inside joke, before a light bulb seemed to go off in my head, "No, it's no problem. I'm not really buying anything, so it'd be nice to help someone who is. I was actually just looking at this one."

I led her over to the Indian table I'd seen which was entirely made of wood. With intricate details on the surface and short stumps as legs, it was quite beautiful and fitting for a living room setting. I would've loved to buy it myself, but I wasn't exactly looking for furniture. This lady was, though, and she seemed pleasant enough.

I was happy when she seemed to fall in love with the piece of furniture just as much as I had, "Oh, this is perfect. You seem to have a great eye for this."

I shrugged bashfully, my mouth in a permanent smile as I brushed off the woman's thanks. She went on to further explain how she'd thought it would take hours to decide on a table, immensely grateful for my help.

She had such a motherly vibe that I was instantly projected back to memories spent with my mom shopping. Of course, Renée had been jumpy and distracted in every store, while this lady seemed calm and collected – and basically the total opposite.

"I hope your family likes the table," I said a few minutes later as I made to exit the store. The woman looked up from the the paperwork she was signing for the purchase of the furniture.

"I'm certain they will. Thank you again for your help, dear. I needed it."

And with that, I left the antique shop, returning to my friends with a bounce in my step. It was people like the lady in that shop that made me believe there was still hope in this world for people to be kind.

* * *

Alice was just cashing for her items when I made it back to Charlotte Russe, while Rosalie waited patiently with a shopping bag in hand.

"It took forever. But we found our outfits," Rosalie sighed, moving a stray strand of her wheat-coloured hair out of her face, mocking exasperation.

"Great," I clapped my hands together in Alice-like fashion as she came to meet us.

"So… we can go?" I asked eagerly, as both girls grinned.

"Yes, we know it's been torturous for you, but we can finally leave. We should have enough time to get dressed. Let's see, it's three o'clock now. So by the time we get to Rose's it'll be four, giving us two hours to get primped before we leave…." Alice rambled on as my attention faded, simply excited to get away from the mall.

I think I'd spent enough time in a mall for the entire year.

But I had a feeling that with Alice around, I'd be making many more trips to come, whether I liked it or not.

* * *

Getting dressed had been less of a hassle than I'd originally thought. After getting a quick introduction to Rosalie's parents - both ridiculously good-looking and intelligent, just like their children - Rosalie and Alice dragged me upstairs into Rosalie's bedroom.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it, but Rosalie's house was _massive_, an elegant three-story mansion with seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. I'd inferred from the car she drove that her family was pretty wealthy, but I hadn't realized the extent.

It was hard to tell seeing as she was incredibly humble about the entire thing.

Rose's bedroom was four times the size of mine with a walk-in closet, a door leading off to her equally-as-large bathroom, a king-sized bed, two leather couches, and an HD television screen propped in front of said couches.

Halfway into the tour of Rosalie's house, I learned that Alice lived right down the street, and guess what? So did Edward. _How funny_.

I was secretly praying that one of their families would want to adopt me in the future. (_Sorry, Charlie_).

I was the first to get dressed, followed by Rosalie, and then Alice, who took the longest even though she was the smallest.

I hadn't understood why on Earth Alice had observed that we would require two _whole _hours to get ready, until I saw the various hair sprays and make up kits, and then everything just clicked.

I was quite entertained watching them use various straighteners and curlers on their hair, and liners and powders on their faces.

"Okay, we've saved the best for last," Rosalie grinned, turning towards me as my eyes widened, immediately seeing where she was going with this.

"Oh no. You're not using any of that stuff on me. All I need is some lip-gloss and maybe a bit of foundation, and I'm good to go," I made a gesture with my hands as both Rosalie and Alice cringed.

"I can see where you're coming from, since you're pretty much gorgeous as it is – " Alice spoke, as I cut her off with a, "No, I'm really not."

She continued like I'd never said anything, "But don't you think that it'll be fun to try something different, and fun, that'll enhance your attractiveness?"

Alice pouted towards the end, as Rosalie mimicked her actions, tilting her head to the side. The truth was: I kind of didn't mind being made up by the experts. I would've tried figuring out how to apply all of that stuff if it weren't for my laziness. But, I was going to make them beg a little first, then I'd pretend to cave.

"C'mon. We haven't had the opportunity to make anyone up in a while. _Pleeeease,_" Rosalie pleaded, as I frowned, groaning.

"Okay. But not too much," I pointed a finger. That was the one problem. Although I didn't necessarily mind having products applied to my face, it all had to be in moderation. I didn't want to go out looking like a porcelain doll.

Though, looking at Rosalie and Alice, I wasn't too worried, seeing as they had applied make-up quite minimally to their own faces.

"Of course! Like I said – we're just enhancing the beauty that's already there," Alice smiled, grabbing her foundation and beginning to apply a small amount of the smooth cream, only to the blemishes on my face. Then she blended everything in, setting the make-up with a hint of powder.

Working on my eyes, she dabbed on some rose gold eye shadow, black liquid eyeliner – which apparently was a hot mess to use on yourself, but much easier to apply on other people – along with black mascara.

Finishing the look, she applied light pink lipstick, which she'd bought just for the occasion, to my lips.

All the while, Rosalie was twisting my hair around the curling iron, making my naturally wavy hair have a little more volume.

By the end of the process, I was a bit nervous to see what I looked like, but Rosalie and Alice looked absolutely thrilled at their work.

"Bella, every time we have a dance or anything at school, be prepared for more Bella Barbie time to happen. Because you. Look. Smokin'," Alice whistled, as a blush overcame my features.

I naturally blushed at the slightest of compliments – something that I hated since it gave away my flattery. Sometimes I wanted to appear confident, but obviously that wasn't my personality, and my body knew it.

I had yet to blush in front of my friends, and once Rosalie and Alice saw my heated cheeks, they both cooed, "Aww, blushing beauty! See, it's a good thing I decided against applying the blush. I just had a feeling."

Alice began to lead me away, into Rosalie's room where there stood a full-length mirror near her closet.

"Trust me, we weren't lying," Alice gently moved my body so that I was directly in front of the mirror and I actually gasped – _gasped _– at my reflection. For a good ten seconds, I couldn't believe that I was staring at myself.

My make up and hair went perfectly with my outfit, consisting of a pair of black shorts, white converse and a gold and white striped long-sleeved shirt. Though I had been a bit wary to wear shorts, seeing as I had no idea whether it would get overbearingly chilly during the night, Alice had assured me that the temperature in La Push wasn't supposed to get too ridiculous that night.

Alice had opted for a flowy dress that stopped a few inches above her knees, while Rosalie's outfit consisted of a plaid skirt and a crop top.

We all made it down the stairs just as Jasper and Emmett began yelling their impatience. Naturally, both their mouths clamped shut upon seeing their dates, causing a giggle to bubble from my lips. _Ah, the classic boyfriend reactions_.

Though I felt a twinge of jealousy seeing the couples so completely wrapped up in each other, my happiness for them cancelled that emotion right out.

"Alright. Let's hit the road!" Emmett boomed, taking Rosalie's hand and pulling her behind him as Jasper followed suit.

We said a quick goodbye to Rosalie's parents who both requested for their children to check in with them once we arrived and again when were heading back home.

All piling into Emmett's Jeep, we jammed out to some Childish Gambino to get us hyped for the party. Again, we made the half an hour drive to La Push in less than fifteen minutes, due to Emmett's insane driving. I literally had to grab onto Jasper headrest to avoid squishing into Alice and Rosalie on sharp turns.

"Emmett, could you please relax with the speeding? I think my life flashed before my eyes one too many times during those fifteen minutes," I said once I'd jumped out of the vehicle.

Emmett only laughed his boisterous laugh, along with everyone else. Okay, seriously, I wasn't being paranoid. I was just being… precautious.

"I think you guys forget that my father's the Chief of Police. Following the law is kind of in my blood," I stated, as the laughing continued.

"Okay Bells, I'll try to tone it down for you," Emmett threw his arm around my shoulder, about to ruffle my hair until Rosalie shot him a look.

"Emmett McCarty, don't you _dare. _I spent half an hour working on her hair, and you are not permitted to ruin it."

Emmett pouted, as it became my turn to laugh, and the group of us walked towards the bonfire on the beach that signaled us to where the party was located.

I noticed at least thirty different kids from school, and another thirty from the reservation. All holding red cups, they jumped and swayed to the music blasting from the speakers that had been set up.

Amidst the group stood an ecstatic-looking Jacob, "I'm glad you guys made it."

He gave me a hug first, which I noted – relieved – was short and amiable, before I introduced him to my friends.

After shaking everyone's hand, Jacob offered us all a drink. I denied, asking him for some water instead, which he gave a small smile in response, saying, "Of course."

I was pleasantly surprised in his change in attitude towards me; glad that I had apparently been wrong about the looks he had kept giving me earlier.

By the time Jacob arrived back with all of our drinks, Alice and Jasper decided to go dance with and befriend some of the kids from the reservation. Rosalie and Emmett stayed behind with us for a little while, getting to know Jacob better, until they too decided to have some fun on the beach.

I moved my head to the rhythm of the music, not really focused on anything, and getting a little restless. So when Jacob asked me if I wanted to sit down, I took his offer gratefully, walking towards his front porch, and sitting on the steps that overlooked the shore, giving us a perfect view of all of our friends.

"I have something to confess, Bella," Jacob said, a little nervously, as I squinted, trying my best to remain nonchalant, even though I was a little panicked on the inside.

"When we were little, I had the biggest crush on you. And even when I dropped the truck off for you, I couldn't get over how beautiful you looked," he spoke, as I avoided all eye contact, choosing to sip on my water instead.

_Oh, dear. _

"Don't worry, what I feel for you hasn't developed into anything more than just a crush. And I don't think that it will. What I was trying to get at with this conversation was that… you unknowingly helped me realize that I'm in love with someone else," Jacob finished, as my head whipped around to look at him, wide-eyed.

"Wait… what?" I asked, not hiding my astonishment, or relief, at his unexpected declaration.

"There's this girl that I met a few weeks ago, and ever since then, I can't stop thinking about her. You're gorgeous, Bella, and I was pretty certain that no one would be able to outshine you in my eyes. But this girl… she just blew me away," he whispered, looking a little bemused as I couldn't help my smile. Though he'd technically just insulted me, I couldn't find it in me to care.

"It's not just her looks that caught my attention – it's everything about her. All I want to do is be around her, get to know her, just… stare at her. I don't know, I think I'm going crazy," Jacob muttered the last part to himself, rubbing the back of his neck as I stared at him for a while.

The weird thing was: I knew exactly what he meant. And that scared the hell out of me.

"No, you're not going crazy. Or if you are, I am too," I laughed a little towards the end, as Jacob gave me a look of immense curiosity.

I began explaining, "I don't think you know him. But… yeah, he's always on my mind no matter how hard I try not to think about him. I don't know why I keep pining over him, though, because I'm pretty sure it's a lost cause," I sighed a little, feeling annoyed that I'd just brought down the mood.

Jacob frowned. It was an odd look on him, compared to the bright smile he seemed to always be wearing on his face.

"I'm sure it's not, Bella. Look, I don't know a thing about him, but he'd be stupid not to like you," he said seriously, as I gave a small smile.

"Thanks, Jake," I nudged his shoulder, as he laughed, before freezing up. Following his line of sight, I saw a girl about my age with tanned skin and shoulder-length hair, throwing her head back in a laugh as she spoke to another girl.

"So I'm guessing that's her," I giggled, as Jacob only nodded mutely.

"Well don't just sit here. Go say hi! Proclaim your undying love for her. Or not…." I put both hands in the air defensively when Jacob shot me a crazed look.

Okay, maybe telling someone that you love them isn't the _best _conversation starter….

Regardless, I rolled my eyes when he continued to stay glued to the steps, physically pushing him in the direction of his girl.

Though he rubbed his shoulder, shooting me a glare, I could tell that he had appreciated my literal push in the right direction.

For a minute, I debated on whether or not I should follow his suit and go over to my friends. Eventually, though, I decided against it after seeing that they were all dancing.

In case my clumsiness and lack of coordination at sports hadn't been any indication, I was a _terrible_ dancer.

I settled for standing and leaning against a nearby tree, watching the waves calmly lap against the shore as a few people dipped their feet in the water.

I gave into the urge to close my eyes, listening to the sound of the sea, taking a deep breath as I felt myself relax and unwind. That was the thing I'd always loved about going to the beach when I was younger. In a sense, it dissolved my anxieties and worries.

I let my thoughts go where they may. I'd listened to everyone – I hadn't buried my emotions. I hadn't forced the memories out of my mind. I still saw images of Renée pale skin, blood soaking through her clothing. But with time, I was beginning to let go of the memories. _Or so I thought. _

I opened my eyes, sighing once more as I continued to people-watch.

I was actually becoming quite fascinated in a boy who seemed to be walking around in circles, mumbling to himself and periodically throwing his hands into the air – yeah…don't do drugs, kids– until I caught a strong whiff of alcohol.

Turning around, I was met with clouded blue eyes, blond hair and a cheesy smile, "Hey Bella," Mike slurred placing both hands on either side of the tree, essentially trapping me in his embrace.

I was less scared, and more shocked.

I didn't respond. I almost felt like I wasn't able to open my mouth and respond. All I could think about was how some dumb teenager like Mike had gotten a little too drunk and had decided to get behind the wheel of a car on the fourth of July.

_So much for letting go, Bella…. _

Mike's face inched closer and closer to mine, but it seemed that I'd lost control of my body. What I wanted to do was shove him away and go find my friends, but I stayed frozen in place. My body visibly shook as my mind raced through image after image of Renée, before it went back to the one image I constantly tried to forget. The last smile she'd given me before she'd seen the approaching headlights.

As Mike's hot, alcohol-ridden breath drew closer to me, the memories flashed more quickly and I suddenly felt like I had been placed into an airtight box, trying to claw my way out.

"Is there a problem here?" it was the last voice I'd ever expected to hear, but all the same, it came along with a feeling of immense happiness.

Mike spun around, standing a good five inches below Edward, whose gaze was cold, though his expression was effortlessly calm.

"Mind yah own businessss, Cullen," his words were becoming more and more unintelligible by the second, as Edward looked unfazed.

"Michael. I think you should leave," Edward's tone was light, but his entire stance was defensive as Mike glared.

"I think iz Bella's decisun whether I should leave or nawt," Mike countered, poking Edward's chest, before turning to me and smiling like a Cheshire cat.

"Bella… you wahnt me to stay, dontcha?" at this point, I literally could not understand Mike's words, though I caught the gist of them.

The last thing I wanted was help from Edward in this situation, but hey, it was him or no one. And I'd choose him any day.

Smiling at Mike, I inconspicuously threw Edward a "Please help me" look, which he thankfully comprehended.

Grabbing Mike's shoulder, he squeezed… hard. I was only able to gather just how hard from the cry of agony that came from Mike as he gasped, "I'm going, I'm going."

Scrambling away from us, Mike tripped in his haste to get back to his friends, and Edward finally turned to me, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, a little stupefied. His eyes softened somewhat as a sigh escaped his lips, before his entire expression changed to one of annoyance, "Good. Now would you care to explain to me what just happened?"

* * *

**A/N: I decided to be mean and leave this chapter here. It's kinda confusing how it ends, actually, but Edward's random outburst will be explained in the next chapter *throws confetti***

**I know Jacob's house isn't a beach house, or overlooking La Push, but this is how I pictured everything to play out. **

**Fun fact: the beach scene was actually the first thing I pictured when I came up with the idea for the story. Originally, I wanted Edward and Bella to meet at this party, and for them to discuss their lives and stuff. But I felt like the story wouldn't be interesting enough that way, soooo… here we are. **

**Anyway! Please leave me your thoughts on the chapter :) I posted this one a day early... so I mean... that deserves some reviews, right? :')**

** I'm hoping that I'll get chapter 8 ready to be posted by Sunday! Yayyyy :) aren't you guys happy that I'm on summer break? I know I am!**

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you for all the alerts & favourites!**

**Thank you for reviewing the last chapter: _Em2017, Lililovingreading, theresa24 (Guest), sujari6, BlueHummingbird8, Monyetta, SapphiRubyCrys, TwilighterSam1989, cbmorefie, _and 1 _Guest_.**

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. _

* * *

Chapter 8

Bella 

_Recap:_

_Scrambling away from us, Mike tripped in his haste to get back to his friends, and Edward finally turned to me, "Are you alright?" _

_I nodded, a little stupefied. His eyes softened somewhat as a sigh escaped his lips, before his entire expression changed to one of annoyance, "Good. Now would you care to explain to me what just happened?"_

At first, I was embarrassed, but soon enough, I got… angry.

"Why would I tell you?" I asked smartly, raising my eyebrows, feeling somewhat justified in my response.

"Maybe because I just saved you from an uncomfortable experience with Mike Newton. Help me out here, Bella. I'm completely confused as to why you didn't so much as push him away from you. You just… stood there," Edward seemed frustrated, running his hands through his bronze hair, while I… once again just… stood there.

First, there was my shock in the fact that Edward was conversing with me. And _showing emotion_ while doing so. Never mind the fact that it was infuriation.

Then, there was him mussing his bronze hair with his long fingers, and I actually felt like I had forgotten how to speak.

Eventually, though, I shrugged, "I don't know."

I was a terrible liar. I was probably worse at lying than I was at dancing. So, it didn't come as too much of a surprise when Edward's jaw clenched, and he gave me a look like "Do you really think I'm _that_ stupid?"

I sighed, "I wanted to push him away from me, but I just couldn't, okay? I was in shock, I guess."

I had no idea why I was actually telling this to Edward – the same guy who had ignored me, and insulted me several times in the weeks that I'd known him.

And I hated the fact that my heart was practically beating out of my chest, watching him look down at me curiously.

"You haven't had much experience with drunk people…?" Edward asked, trying to place the puzzle pieces together.

His question struck me as odd. Very odd.

_Didn't he know?_

"On the contrary… I've had too_ much_ experience with them," I hinted, hoping that it would trigger something in his mind that would allow him to remember why I had moved to Forks to live with Charlie in the first place.

I assumed he had heard the talks around town, but from his perplexed expression, I realized that my assumption had been wrong.

I hadn't actually spoken about my mom since her funeral two months before. It had been unnerving for me to talk about when speaking to the police, and I was picturing it to be just as – if not more – awkward to explain to Edward.

I knew he hadn't asked. He hadn't forced it out of me. Yet, all the same, I found my mouth moving before I could process why exactly I had decided to tell him.

"For the fourth of July celebrations, my mom and I drove over to one of the parks in Phoenix to watch the fireworks – just like we do every year. It was spectacular as usual, and on the way back home, we were blasting music and singing along, and everything was fine."

"We were driving past an intersection when all of a sudden, I see a pair of headlights coming from the left. It was kind of an impulse for me to reach for the steering wheel and try to swerve us away… or something. But the guy who was coming at us was going too fast, and he crashed… right into us," I was looking down at my feet, inhaling deeply.

"He was drunk out of his mind. He hadn't registered that the light on his side had been red, which meant that he was supposed to stop," I breathed.

"I came out of it unscathed. My mom didn't. The driver's side of the car took almost all of the damage," my voice was barely above a whisper now, as I looked up at Edward.

He was staring, unblinking, before his eyebrows creased, and he gave me a look that I expected to be filled with pity, but was instead filled with guilt and agony.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea," he shook his head, looking down at the ground, "I wouldn't have… reacted the way I did if I had known. I'm sorry that my apology doesn't help you deal with her loss in any way."

My eyebrows wrinkled, as my eyes squinted. This wasn't the Edward Cullen that I was used to. Warily, I answered, "It's alright. I'm… handling it."

Edward didn't look satisfied with my answer, "Not very well," he countered, referring to my encounter with Mike. His response wasn't cruel, but rather, disturbed. I wasn't sure whether that was something I should've been flattered or irritated about.

I chose irritated, and was just about to shoot him a smart reply, when I realized something that had slipped my mind throughout the whole meeting with Mike.

"What are you even doing here, anyway?" My question came off harsher than I'd originally intended, and I immediately wanted to slap myself once seeing Edward flinch.

_Gosh Bella. He's just apologized for bringing up your mother, and all you can do is be rude? _

_Well, yeah, he's been rude to me for the past three weeks. It's only fair. _

I was having a conversation with myself in my head. I had driven right into crazy town.

Edward's jaw locked, lying miserably, "I was invited."

I was sighing as I replied, tiredly, "Right. Jacob didn't know who Emmett or any of the others were, so I highly doubt that he would know you. Why are you really here? Did you come to see Alice, or someone?"

Frankly, I was exhausted of always being confused with his behavior. I just wanted him to tell me the truth, for once.

Edward's back was pressed against the tree opposite to the one I was currently leaning against, five feet away from me. As he took a deep breath, I felt myself become momentarily startled by the emotions floating through his emerald green orbs.

"I had to see you."

Hearing his response made my nerves explode, not knowing where on earth this conversation was heading. And when I'm nervous, I tend to crack really lame jokes: "You couldn't wait until Monday?" I smiled, attempting to lessen the tension, but to no avail.

The intensity of his green-eyed gaze didn't dwindle, making my stomach flip. I felt my head spin when he shook his head, "No."

"Edward…what's wrong?" I said slowly, visibly gulping. Something terribly serious had to have happened for Edward to drive all this way just to talk to me. _Me. _

He stayed silent for a moment, just standing there, looking deep in thought. His eyes showcased varying emotions from regret, to conflict, to anger, finally settling on decisiveness.

His velvety smooth voice was strong, "Bella, I think that I should tell you something. Something that I hope will explain my behavior to everyone."

_Well. Okay then. _

I tried to be as patient and encouraging as possible as I waited for him to elaborate on this so-called 'thing' that he wanted to tell me.

It was all just a bit overwhelming, trying to take everything in. Mainly the fact that Edward was having a real-life conversation with me… with _emotion_. I'd gotten so used to his blank stares that it was actually rattling me seeing his face with expression.

In a good way.

"You're probably going to be really confused when I start talking, but I hope that by the end, you'll understand," he had led me over to the porch, sitting next to me, though admittedly farther away than I wanted him to be.

Hesitantly, he chanced a glance at me, staring into my eyes for a few moments, before looking forward to watch the lapping waves, elbows on his knees as he leaned slightly forward.

"My dad's a surgeon at one of the hospitals in the city. As you can understand, it's a job that involves some tough choices - some that cost lives.

"During the summer of last year, my father started getting strange e-mails and phone calls, all threatening him. The person who sent these threats kept telling my father that he'd pay for making the wrong call," Edward began.

_No. _

"We went to the police in Port Angeles, near the hospital where my father works. They didn't take the threats seriously, until… one of my dad's friends from med school was found dead in his apartment."

_Holy crap. _

"The FBI came in, and started investigating, trying to get my dad to remember any significant cases he'd had where the family or friends of the patient were particularly devastated with the loss. As you can imagine, my father couldn't exactly pick out a case based on that factor. He treats so many patients per day, and he's also dealt with a lot of deaths, unfortunately."

Edward's fingers threaded together now, "After that, there was another case, with one of my mom's friends from high school. The FBI deduced that the person who was going on this so-called rampage was obviously a psychopath.

"I decided to just stay away from my friends, because I was terrified that the same thing would happen to them. And since then, there haven't been any more threats."

My emotions were all over the place. "Oh my gosh." Of all the reasons I'd imagined for Edward's behavior, this was definitely the last.

The one thing that was sending my mind in a total frenzy was the fact that he'd come to this party to explain something this serious to me - when he supposedly didn't even care for me. As much as I wanted to believe this was some sort of sick joke, I knew that it wasn't.

I just needed to know. Why _me_?

"I don't understand why you're explaining this to me, of all people. I know… this is probably the worst way for me to react to you telling me something of this magnitude - something that you haven't told anyone else. But I was kind of under the impression that you hated me. And now…." I stood, not really knowing where I was going, as Edward's hand grasped my wrist gently, preventing me from walking any further.

He came to stand in front of me, looking at me with disbelief, before a hint of amusement crossed his eyes, "Did you not hear a word that I just said? More specifically, did you not hear the part about me distancing myself from my friends for their own protection? I don't hate you, Bella."

"Yes, you do," I argued. For some reason, I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Edward was insinuating that he cared about my safety. I couldn't let myself believe that he'd kept away from me because he hadn't wanted me to get hurt.

"No, I don't," Edward said confidently, as he took a step towards me.

"Yes, you do," my voice shook, even though I'd planned for it to come out resilient and with conviction.

Edward's face leaned close to mine so that his forehead was pressing against mine.

I think I'd forgotten how to breathe.

"No, I don't," his cool breath fanned my face.

"Yes you –" but I didn't get to finish my sentence, because he cut me off.

_With his lips. _

And I couldn't finish my thought, even if I had wanted to. Because the moment his lips touched mine, all thoughts flew out of my mind. The only thing I could focus on was how soft his lips were, and how perfectly they fit against mine.

And how much I never wanted him to stop kissing me.

My hands involuntarily wrapped around his neck, as I kissed him back, and the sigh that escaped from his mouth caused a pleased smile to take over my face. I felt his body relax as my lips moved against his, realizing that he had probably felt incredibly nervous before spontaneously kissing me. I mean, he hadn't even known how I felt about him, but I guess now he did.

For once in my life, things felt _right_, never mind the fact that I was internally shocked at what was currently transpiring. For now, all I wanted to do was focus on the feel of his warm lips against mine.

When we broke apart, a smooth whisper came from his lips, "_Now_ do you believe that I don't hate you?"

I was physically unable to move my mouth and formulate a response.

Seeing my astonishment, Edward stayed silent for a moment, thinking about how he was going to approach the situation, and provide an explanation to me.

Leaning close, his lips grazed along my cheek, stopping for a moment to look into my eyes.

"When I saw you that first day in the cafeteria, I couldn't keep my eyes off of you, and at first, I allowed myself to indulge. To appreciate how beautiful you were, because that's all I could allow myself to do. I couldn't let myself get close to you, and I couldn't let you get close to me. Because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt because of me."

"It worked for a while. I acted like I didn't care about you… like I wasn't constantly affected by your presence, and you believed it. You believed that I hated you, even though I never did. I could never hate you, Bella," his eyes burned into mine, forcing me to see what I had refused to believe all along.

"It's been increasingly hard trying to hide myself from you, and yesterday, I reached my breaking point. I was worried about you – you looked so weak and fragile, and I just needed to know you would be all right. When you called me out on my… mood switches… I took some time to mull things over, and I decided that it was time I told you.

"I'm being incredibly selfish right now. I should be protecting you by staying away, but… I can't. I can't stay away anymore," Edward's voice dropped and his hands cupped my face, as I let out a shaky breath.

_Was this real life?_

All I could do was mutter softly, "Rosalie was right."

Edward's eyebrows came together, as I smiled a little, explaining, "She said that you seemed to be trying unnaturally hard to push me away, as if you didn't want to."

Then something magical happened: the corners of his lips upturned into a crooked grin, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth, and I felt like my knees had suddenly turned to Jell-O.

_Whoa. _

Noticing my dazed expression, Edward's dazzling smile turned into a frown, "What?"

I blinked, shaking my head, "I like your smile."

I swear, every time I was around Edward, I had no filter. Absolutely none.

My face burned as I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, already knowing that my face was tomato red.

Edward's smile reappeared, but as more of a smirk as his knuckles brushed along one of my warm cheeks, "I like your blush."

* * *

We migrated back to the porch, and I rested my head against Edward's shoulder after his arm had wrapped around my waist.

"This is so weird," I said after a few moments, causing Edward to freeze as I immediately took note of what had been wrong in my words.

Again. No filter…

"I mean that in the best way possible," I rushed to explain, facing him with a small smile on my face, "I mean. It's weird to see this side of you, but I like it so much better than the cold version."

Edward suddenly looked pained, "I can't apologize enough for the way I treated you, Bella. I just didn't think I had another option."

I started to shake my head, "No, I understand now. I mean, you were a jerk. A huge jerk. But at least now I kind of get why."

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, "I think I'm gonna be apologizing for that for the rest of my life." I grinned, and he grinned right back.

Seriously, I was starting to fall in love with his smile.

And him.

_Ugh_.

"Probably. But there are other ways to make things up to me," I smiled, eyes glinting.

"Oh?" Edward tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, brushing his thumb against my cheek before bringing his face close to mine. Then, firmly, he pressed his lips against mine once more. His actions were more assertive this time – I assumed since he knew I'd kiss him back.

And as much as I wanted him to deepen the kiss, I pulled back just before he got the chance. The last thing I wanted was for us to move too fast, especially since we'd only just learned that we liked one another.

So, I surprised both Edward and myself when I asked abruptly, "Wanna play twenty questions?"

Edward's eyebrows rose, and he chuckled.

_Chuckled_.

My God. If there was a sound I wished I could record and listen to on repeat, it would be Edward's laugh. It was musical, and so completely _him._

"Sure…?" he answered uncertainly, an adorable smile playing across his face, as I looked down at my hands, thinking.

"What's your favorite hobby?" I asked, placing my chin on top of my hands as I gave Edward my full attention, awaiting his answer.

"Reading. I love to read. Playing the piano comes in at a close second," Edward stated, and I practically swooned.

I'd always found it incredibly attractive for a guy to play an instrument, especially the piano.

So far, I liked what I was gathering about Edward.

"What's your favorite book?" it was Edward's turn to ask the question, and I gave him a look of curiosity as to how on Earth he knew I enjoyed reading.

"I, um, saw you reading 'Insurgent' while you were waiting for the bell to ring last week," Edward stuttered as my cheeks tinged pink, and I looked down, feeling incredibly flattered that he'd paid _that_ much attention to me.

"It's a tie between 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Pride and Prejudice'. I'm a sucker for the classics," I smiled, and Edward didn't seem too surprised at my answer. Unconsciously, I took one of his hands between mine, looking down at it as I tracing the lines.

"Favorite type of food?" I wondered aloud.

"Um… that's tough. Probably Italian," Edward scrunched his eyebrows together, smiling down at my hands holding his.

"When's your birthday? How old are you?" he asked, posing the second question as an afterthought.

"That's two questions," I replied smartly, a grin on my face, "September thirteenth. I just turned seventeen," I answered. My birthday hadn't been too long ago – in fact, it had been the weekend before I'd moved to Forks.

"Oh. Happy Belated Birthday," Edward wished me, looking saddened that he had missed it, as I giggled, thanking him.

We went back and forth like that for a while, getting to know each other more and more. He'd gotten me to tell him things that I avoided telling anyone else. How I really felt about my mom's accident. I knew that it wasn't my fault, so I didn't blame myself, but I did feel partially responsible for the whole thing. If it weren't for our tradition, we wouldn't have gone out to the park that night, and she would still be alive today.

I also went completely red after letting it slip that around Edward, I felt substantially lighter. With him around, I didn't think about my mother or the drunk driver who had taken her away from me. He kept my mind off of those things, without even making a conscious effort.

Edward stared at me for a long time after I'd admitted that to him, before letting out a breath, "Really?"

I nodded, looking down at our intertwined hands, watching as his strong ones squeezed mine lightly.

He didn't need to say it. I already knew exactly what he was feeling.

* * *

**A/N: I'm actually dying to hear what you guys thought of this chapter.**

**Was it unexpected? Haha I think that it was, from some of your reviews guessing what Edward's big secret was. The most far-off one was that Edward had gotten Tanya pregnant. **

**I really loved the fact that some of you guessed, though! **

**I had so many ideas for why Edward was the way he was towards Bella, but all of them centered on the same topic. I'm just hoping that my idea worked out well, and makes sense. **

**There are sooo many different confessions in this chapter. I feel like I crammed them all in, but this was how I'd pictured everything to happen – one after the other.**

**Reviews are wonderful things!**

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you for all the alerts & favourites!**

**Thank you to all of these amazing people for your reviews: _Lililovingreading, Nissa-Cullen, CLee56, cbmorefie, Crescent Moonflame, sujari6, SapphiRubiCrys, anglealice, HockeyChick10, ruth . vandebroek, TwilighterSam1989, BlueHummingbird8, Em2017, Monyetta, _and 1_Guest. _**

**I really appreciated all of the feedback for that chapter, because I was extremely nervous that you guys wouldn't like the big reveal. So, I'm glad it made sense, while also being unexpected!**

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. _

* * *

Chapter 9

Bella

It had been an hour since the incident with Mike had happened, and something kept bugging me in the back of my mind as I leaned my head on Edward's shoulder.

"Edward?" I gently called on his attention, as he hummed, letting me know that he was listening.

"How'd you know that I was here?" I asked, lifting my head so that I was now facing him and observing his reaction.

"Um," he visibly cringed, passing his fingers through his hair – I was realizing that he tended to do that whenever he got nervous or frustrated. My heart skipped, watching what I had already deemed to be a swoon-worthy action.

"Well… I may have stopped off at your house," Edward chuckled nervously, as my jaw dropped.

"You talked to my _dad_?" my voice rose in surprise, as he gave a shrug.

"Oh no, what did he say?" I face-palmed myself, already picturing my father's overprotective side coming out as he interrogated Edward.

"To be fair, I probably would've reacted the same had I been in his shoes. When some random boy shows up at your doorstep, asking to see your daughter, the normal response is to be a bit suspicious," Edward grinned, trying to ease the tension, as I urged him for more details.

He sighed, purposely trying to hold back, "He asked me why I was looking for you, and I told him that I needed to tell you something extremely important – which was true. Then I introduced myself, and he kind of smiled a little, and told me…"

"No," I groaned, already knowing what he was going to say.

"That you had been - and I quote - 'very curious' about me," Edward nudged my shoulder playfully, as my face turned beet red.

"Well, I had to make sure that I wasn't crushing on a bad person," I joked, voice muffled as a hand still covered a portion of my face in embarrassment. Edward's eyes immediately softened from having a mischievous glint, to something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Adoration, was it?

"Then what?" I prodded Edward for further information as he rolled his eyes in fake exhaustion.

"Then, I asked him where I could find you, and he told me that you'd be at Jacob Black's house. And, that's basically it," he ended his story there, as I gave him a look, knowing that he had skipped out more than a few points.

Still, he had provided me with more information than I could've asked for, so I couldn't really complain.

"Alice and the others are probably going to come look for me soon," I warned Edward after checking the time a few moments later. It was slowly approaching ten o'clock, and the last time I'd seen the others had been around nine. I was sure that by now they had all realized that I was no longer with Jake.

"Yeah, I figured," Edward sighed, as my hand unconsciously went to his. He looked down at our interlaced hands with a small smile on his face.

"I _will_ tell them. Believe me, I want to do it as soon as possible, because I know it can blow up in my face. Just… not tonight. Before I have to deal with all of them, I want to spend some more time getting to know you, seeing as I haven't really given myself the opportunity to do that since meeting you," Edward threw me another look of guilt, as I bit my lip.

"You know, you're kind of sweet when you wanna be," I laughed, sobering up as I finished my thought. "And though I'm not _entirely_ letting you off the hook for your behavior just yet, you can stop worrying about it so much. I forgive you."

A look of release passed over Edward's face, followed by what was soon becoming my favourite smile.

After a few moment of staring back out into the sea, I found that Edward's eyes hadn't left my face, and was instantly projected back to our first encounter in Biology.

"Want a picture?" I raised my eyebrows mockingly, causing a deep chuckle to resound from his chest, instinctively making me smile as well.

"Hm. Tempting, but I'll pass. I'd much rather enjoy the real thing," Edward said seriously, his face growing close to mine as his crooked grin once again made an appearance.

_Well, then. Wasn't he Mr. Smooth-Talker…_

"Is this how you get all the girls?" I teased, trying to seem nonchalant even though my heart was hammering in my chest. It had occurred to me that I wasn't the only girl that Edward had been with. I mean, it actually would've made more sense that Edward dated multiple girls prior to meeting me.

And I also knew that it was ridiculously childish of me to be envious… yet, here I was.

Edward seemed _entirely_ taken aback at my sudden comment. So much so, that he actually pulled back from me, as his eyebrows came down to form a deep frown.

"What makes you so certain that there have _been_ other girls?" now it was my turn to look surprised.

"Edward… come on. Have you _looked_ at yourself in the mirror? You can't tell me that girls haven't thrown themselves at you," I gave him a look, asking him to challenge me, which expectedly, he didn't.

"Some have. But it doesn't mean that I ever accepted any of the offers," his response made me bite the inside of my cheek.

"Why not?" my voice annoyingly came out as a whisper, but I knew he'd heard it from the slight upturn of his lips.

"Because none of them made me feel anything. Or if they did, it wasn't anything compared to what I feel now. I was waiting for something special," Edward's eyes were serious, urging to believe the meaning behind his words.

"You've never had a girlfriend," I stated, secretly flattered at his last comment, but not quite letting him know it. _Something special. _He had considered me to be _something special. _Oh, dear.

"No," Edward confirmed. I was in a state of disbelief, especially because I knew that he wasn't lying to me. His eyes were an open book, showing nothing but blatant honesty.

It was wholly unnatural for me to feel this… possessive. But I couldn't help it. It was like I had this need for him to be mine, and only mine. And it was freaking me out a little.

Moving slightly so that I was able to gaze into his eyes, I saw an array of emotions from happiness, to awe, to relief, and other indescribably wonderful emotions.

But amongst those emotions, was an underlying feeling that made my breath catch in my throat.

Fear.

"What are you afraid of?" it was sending my mind reeling. Was he one of those guys who was scared to commit to one girl?

Somehow… I highly doubted that. Edward just wasn't that kind of guy.

I seemed to be catching Edward off-guard a lot tonight with my observances.

I didn't expect him to answer right away, and he didn't. He took a few moments to gather his thoughts, before his gripping, unexpected response came, "The people that I care about getting hurt."

Just in hearing his voice, I could tell how truly vulnerable he felt in this situation. All because this man – this _monster_ – was killing innocent people to avenge a friend.

I tried to lighten the increasingly darkening atmosphere, smiling a little, "Am I on that list of people?"

It got Edward to smile, if only a little, before his expression once again turned solemn, "Top of it."

This guy sure knew how to knock the wind right out of my lungs without even trying.

Truly, it was the way he said it so flippantly – like it was the most obvious and usual thing in the world – that rendered me speechless. So much so that I felt it had taken a whole minute for me to recover.

"You shouldn't be afraid," I murmured, watching his shoulders relax slightly.

"I know," he looked away from me, before continuing, "it's been a year, and nothing's happened. But what if it does? What if you, or Alice, or Jasper, or one of them suffers the repercussions of my father's decision?" his questions sent my blood cold, hitting me like a ton of bricks.

I couldn't even try to put myself in his shoes, but I was starting to, and it was terrifying me even imagining some of those possibilities.

"Then you have to remember that it's not your fault," I squeezed his hand, making Edward's gaze once again turn to me.

"It's not your fault that a mentally unstable person is hunting people down innocent people because he can't deal with his friend's loss. It's not your fault," I wasn't trying to comfort him, but it seemed that my idea of the truth seemed to give him some sort of peace of mind.

Edward seemed undeniably grateful for my so-called words of wisdom, and I wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't make my heart flutter knowing that I had helped him take a step in the right direction, which was: moving on.

After a while, I saw his eyes shut as he let out a soft chuckle, "I have a knack for bringing the mood down, don't I?"

His eyes were apologetic once they opened and fell on me, and I shook my head, smiling, "Technically… I was the one who brought it up. And I'm kind of happy that you got that off your chest."

His eyes glimmered, and after a while of this never-ending staring contest, he said suddenly, "I think I might really like you, Bella."

My cheeks heated up, as I looked down distractedly to the stair we were both sitting on. His words were simplistic, but all the same, they sent my heart wild, and I didn't know what I was supposed to say or do in response to something like that.

Edward wasn't going to have any of my shyness, though. Using his index finger, he guided my chin so that I was once again facing him, as my eyes finally flickered to his; my cheeks still warm.

"I'm so nervous that I'm gonna say, or do something stupid," I admitted once falling upon his questioning eyes.

He gave me a funny look then, as if he wasn't used to people being so honest with him. I just couldn't help it, though; I had this overwhelming urge to spill my guts to him, even though I was only just starting to get to know him. But I guess, that's the way things were supposed to go. We were supposed to talk until we couldn't get any more words out, and that's how we were supposed to learn about one another.

"Just say, or do whatever feels right," Edward said, immediately taking the pressure off of me. It wasn't that I felt pressured by him, but there was this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that he could do so much better than me, so I had to somehow compensate for all of that. Of course, I was getting to comprehend that Edward didn't even think that, so I forced myself to take a breath and let it go.

Being with Edward felt natural; it had, even before tonight. _I_ was the one who was putting all of this unnecessary stress on for no reason.

"I think I might really like you, too," I breathed, getting the words off my chest as Edward's gaze lingered on me, before he let out a sigh, giving me one of those intense looks as if he was getting a glimpse at my soul.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Edward's crooked smile came, as I began to grin right back.

"No. It actually felt pretty good to finally say it to you," I confessed, only making his grin widen.

Almost immediately after my words came, we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat, and a chill ran down my spine picturing all of our friends staring at us.

Thankfully, that feeling went almost as quickly as it had come. Both turning to the source of the voice, we found a sheepish-looking Jacob, giving us both apologetic looks.

"Sorry to um… interrupt," he grinned his classic wide grin, as I blushed, and Edward looked a bit unnerved at someone walking in on our private moment.

"Rosalie and Alice are looking for you. I'll guess I'll let them know where you are?" his statement came out as a question as he looked between Edward and myself.

"Actually, I'll come with you to meet them. Could you just give us a minute?" thankfully, I didn't have to spell it out for Jacob, who immediately nodded, walking a small distance away to give us some space.

Of course, I received a mild shock when I turned to Edward and noticed that his wary expression had turned into a glare, aimed towards the retreating form of Jacob.

_O-kay. _

I let out a giggle, as Edward unstiffened, turning towards me with his eyebrows pulled together. And was that… jealousy I noted in his eyes? So, I _had_ been right.

"He's just a friend. More like… a little brother," Edward didn't look convinced, "He's interested in someone else. And… so am I."

Even though everything was already out in the open, I still felt a blush rise on my cheeks, as Edward finally cracked a smile. I didn't know whether it was from my words, or my embarrassed reaction. Probably both.

Rather than tease him about that whole thing, I settled with being pleased at the fact that I wasn't the only one who got bitter over things like that. It wasn't a weird, one-sided thing.

"I'm sorry," Edward once again ran his fingers through his silky hair - giving me serious heart palpitations - before settling his smoldering green eyes on me.

"I can't help it. Just the thought of you…" he left the sentence hanging, but I already knew what he had been about to say: _Just the thought of being with someone else makes me want to rip my hair out_. At least, that's what it felt like for me.

"It's alright. I get it," I smiled, as Edward began to stand up, holding a hand out for me to take.

I grasped it, reveling in the feel of his strong, yet gentle hand enclosing mine.

Of course, I was immediately brought of my reverie by the feel of Edward's hand tugging me closer to him.

It was quite startling seeing the difference in height between us. Edward had obviously looked a lot shorter sitting down, but actually standing upright in front of him, the top of my head was only able to reach his shoulder. He was an entire head taller than me.

He seemed to be noticing the same thing, laughing his musical laugh as he bent slightly down to reach me. Of course, it was only polite to meet him halfway, wrapping my arms around his neck as my eyes closed, anticipating the kiss.

His lips met mine soon enough, softly and slowly grazing them, before pressing harder as my fingers threaded through his hair – oh dear Lord, his _hair_. It was even softer and silkier than I had imagined. Not that I fantasized about kissing Edward… often.

I couldn't describe the feel of his kiss; it was like a fire had ignited, rapidly spreading through my body and engulfing everything in its wake. I wanted to stay wrapped up in his embrace forever, but all too soon we both had to pull away. Breathing heavily, Edward's forehead pressed against mine, as one hand cupped my cheek.

Then, raising his eyebrows, a cheeky smile formed across his lips, "See you on Monday?"

I beamed, "See you."

He kissed my forehead, before releasing me, making sure that I met up with Jake, before moving through the bushes towards his car – that I only now noticed had been parked right behind Jacob's house.

* * *

I already knew exactly what was impending once I came within a foot of Jacob, and I turned red once he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me. It was such an Emmett-like gesture, that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, just say it. I know you're dying to," I narrowed my eyes, but a smile was still etched across my features.

"I told you so. I told you so. _I_ told _you_ so," Jacob sang… very off-key… as we both exploded with laughter.

"That was the guy you were talking about, right? The one that you specifically said _didn't_ have feelings for you. The same one I said would be stupid _not_ to like you. Well, guess who was right, and who was wrong?"

"Okay… now you're just getting annoying," I playfully shoved him as he pouted, growing close to the bonfire that was still blazing fiercely in the night.

"How did things go with _your_ girl?" now it was my turn to poke fun right back at him.

His response was disappointing, as he scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I didn't really make a move."

Just as I was about to console him, he whipped towards me, "But _she_ did! She kissed me. And it was great, Bella. It was so much better than I'd ever dreamed it would be."

He let out a dreamy sigh right then, and I was unable to keep the smile off of my face, knowing that I wasn't the only one who'd had a superb night.

"Geez, Jake. You got me scared for a second, there. Ugh, but I'm so happy for you," I smacked his arm as we finally reached the bonfire, and my friends.

"Hey! We were wondering where you disappeared off to. You missed Emmett dunking Alice into the water," Jasper greeted me, causing a round of laughter between him, Rosalie, Jake, and Emmett - basically everyone except Alice, who resembled an angry puppy… and angry, _wet_ puppy.

I burst out laughing along with everyone else, taking in her limp hair, and drenched clothes, only sobering up a few seconds later when she gave the group of us a death glare, pointing a finger towards Emmett.

"Yeah, well you're not gonna be laughing so hard when I get into your car, _in my wet clothes_, and _ruin_ your leather seats," Alice fumed, huffing away towards the Jeep, as Emmett's eyes immediately widened, realization dawning on his face.

"Wait!" he yelled, chasing after her.

"Well, I guess we're calling it a night, then. We all had a great time, Jake, and we hope you had a good birthday," I gave the birthday boy a hug, moving back as Rosalie did the same, and Jasper did that weird one-armed bro hug.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Jake responded, waving as we left the beach and headed towards the Jeep.

We met a disoriented-looking Emmett, who was currently begging Alice to wrap herself in one of his spare towels, while she was trying to pry open the door behind him.

"Ah, the people I call my friends," I sighed, as Rosalie nodded her head in agreement. Then, we both cracked wide smiles before hopping into the car on the other side.

In the end, Jasper managed to coax Alice in drying herself, and sitting on the towel, leaving a very relieved Emmett driving us home. For the duration of the short trip back, my mind wandered to all of the ups and downs of the night, unable to truly grasp how much had ensued in such a short space of time.

When we'd finally gotten back to my house, I'd waved goodbye to everyone, thanking them for a good night, walking in a daze towards the stairs. I absently responded to Charlie's questioning of my night, before walking into my room and jumping onto the bed.

My mind wandered back to Edward's kiss – or rather, kisses – and before I knew it, I was unconsciously smiling, and letting out a soft giggle.

I was dizzy with happiness; at the epitome of it, really. I just hoped that nothing would bring me down.

* * *

**A/N: I wrote most of this chapter between yesterday and today. I was putting it off initially, because I was still figuring out what was going to happen in this one. And then, I had to work in my mom's store from 8:30-6 because she was busy (I usually work during vacations, but usually only for half days). So yeah… by the time I got home, I was pretty exhausted. **

**Anyway! I'm sorry that some bits of the chapters feel kind of broken up… I tried my best to make things flow, but I still feel like it didn't turn out quite as amazing as I wanted. **

**I surprisingly enjoyed the Jacob parts, because I thought it was all very amusing to write a more easy-going, not-in-love-with-Bella side of him. **

**I'd really enjoy hearing what you guys thought! I'll try my absolutely best to get the next chapter out by Wednesday… but no promises. I won't make you guys wait a whole week, though. **

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all the alerts & favourites!**

**And thank you for reviewing the last chapter: _anglealice, RoseNEmmettForever, Alondra2015, lynard69, CLee56, cbmorefie, LonelyGirl14, SapphiRubyCrys, Em2017, BlueHummingbird8, Lililovingreading, Monyetta, _and _TwilighterSam1989. _**

* * *

_Disclaimer: I still do not own Twilight. _

* * *

Chapter 10

Bella

Since I'd arrived home around eleven thirty, by the time I'd gotten showered and dressed for bed, it was already midnight. Of course, the events of the night still had me feeling jittery, so I was unable to get some shut-eye until the wee hours of the morning.

By the time I was awakened by the rare sight of sunlight pouring through my window, I was well rested, albeit completely disoriented. I had almost completely forgotten that Jacob's party had happened.

Sitting up in bed, I gave myself time to recollect my memory, freezing when my mind hovered over one particular event: Edward's arrival.

Had that entire encounter _really_ happened? Had Edward _really_ kissed me? Though I had always had a ridiculously vivid imagination, I firmly believed that this was something that I hadn't just conjured up. His features had seemed way too real, as well as the conversation. But most importantly, I couldn't have imagined that _kiss_. It was simply impossible.

So naturally, I collapsed right back into bed with a deep sigh, taking a few moments to regain my composure. Then, when I was sure I was done smiling like a mental patient, I went over to the bathroom to shower and get changed into some sweats.

Taking the stairs two at a time, and tripping twice on the way down - _I really needed to stop doing that_ – I emerged through the doors on the right to find a fully dressed Charlie, sipping on a cup of coffee whilst flipping through the newspaper.

Hearing the footsteps, he immediately looked up, giving a short smile, ready to go back to the article. But then, he seemed to catch himself, _really_ focusing on my face.

"Something's different…" he twisted his head, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Shrugging, I went over to the cupboard, grabbing a bowl, some milk from the fridge, and a box of cereal.

"Yup, something has definitely changed. You're…" he began again, almost frustrating me the way he kept leaving his sentences hanging.

"Yes?" I probed, slightly amused at how much he seemed to be trying to figure out this 'thing' that had apparently changed in me. Last time I checked, I hadn't gotten any tattoos, or piercings, or any other noticeable markings on my face. So what on Earth was Charlie seeing that I had missed?

His entire face seemed to relax, all in one go, and he slumped.

"You're happy," was all he said, continuing to stare at me.

Now _that_ managed the wipe the smile right off my face.

"You know, what? I'm not even gonna ask why. I'm just glad to finally see you like this, Bells," Charlie smiled, sensing my discomfort and dropping the subject as I continued to stand there, a bit stunned.

When I finally collected myself, I simply poured out my cereal, sitting down, as the two of us ate in silence. Charlie wasn't one to prod, but I knew that I'd have to tell him sooner or later that I was sort of dating someone. Maybe when things were more official between Edward and I, then I'd introduce him properly to my father. Otherwise, I figured things would be way too awkward.

"Alright, well I'm gonna go head up to the reservation. Harry Clearwater wants to go fishing, and I'm already – " he cut himself off to glance at his watch, "fifteen minutes late."

Charlie sighed, rolling his eyes, probably anticipating Harry's reaction to his tardiness. Then, he gave my shoulder a light squeeze before grabbing his coat and heading to the front door.

As he shut the door with a soft thud, I exhaled, _well _that _was interesting. _

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful, and as much as I was itching to call up Alice and Rosalie and tell them all about Edward and me, I knew that I couldn't tell them without revealing Edward's secret in the process. And I knew that it wasn't my place to do that, so I just tried my best to avoid my phone.

I'd managed to leave a Calculus assignment to the last minute, and actually ended up spending much of my afternoon doing said work.

Oh yeah, and I was also _dying_ to call Edward, simply so that I could hear his velvety voice reassure me that last night had, in fact, happened. But alas… I had forgotten to _get his number_.

Yeah, this day was just going _splendidly,_ wasn't it?

* * *

Thankfully, I survived the rest of my Sunday without making any regrettable phone calls, waking up early on Monday morning, once again feeling out of my element. Then, it was like a flood of images washed over me, transporting me back to Saturday night.

It was like my mind to play tricks on me, but I couldn't find it in me to believe that the events of Saturday had just been one, amazing dream. Anyway, I would find out for sure today once I got to school.

Showering and getting dressed quickly, I managed to get ready with time to spare to properly neaten my hair and apply just a dab of make-up. Looking down at myself, I shrugged, feeling that my outfit was pretty decent: a white 'The 1975' t-shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, and my signature white Converse.

I didn't want to look like I was trying to impress anyone… even though I kind of was.

Lastly, I slipped into my black coat, slinging my bag on one shoulder before heading downstairs into the kitchen.

Scouring the fridge, I managed to find a vanilla-flavored yogurt, taking my time to eat that as I skimmed through a few news stories on my phone.

When I was finished, I began to feel a bit jittery, thinking of what was probably going to happen at school - all of the different ways that Edward could greet me this morning. He could ignore me, run away from me, give me a cold glare. Or if luck was on my side, he would act the same way that he had on Saturday.

Pulling into the school parking lot and cutting off my unbearably loud engine, I jumped out of my car, about to search for that familiar silver Volvo, when I was stopped by a loud shout from Emmett, beckoning me to the rest of my friends.

"Yo Bells, what's up?" Emmett ruffled my hair in greeting. I'd come to accept the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed doing that, and there was simply no way I could ever stop him.

Laughing a little, "Nothing." I ran a few fingers through my hair, hoping to return it back to its original non-messy state.

In the meantime, the rest of my friends said their 'Hellos' to me, before continuing on with the conversation they'd been having before my arrival.

"Okay, how about this: why don't we have a study group? Rosalie can help me with International Business, Jasper can help Emmett with his Spanish assignment. Oooh, and Bella, you're brilliant at writing essays. Would you mind helping Rose with her paper for Challenge and Change?" Alice finished her speech with a question directed towards me.

I was startled, to say the least, but answered all the same, "Sure... When exactly is this gathering taking place?"

"Today, after school," Alice replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. _Naturally_.

I sighed, "Whose house?"

"We haven't gotten to that part as yet. But my house is out of the picture, since the exterminator is going to be in there for the entire day, checking for rats," Rosalie responded, shuddering.

My eyebrows went up, _well that was unfortunate. _

Biting my lip, I thought about the homework club of sorts, still drifting towards Edward, and it was like a light bulb had suddenly gone off in my head. This would literally be the ultimate opportunity for Edward to come clean to everyone. Better now than never, right? And if I remembered correctly, he had specifically said that he wanted to tell everyone soon, before things could blow up in his face.

"Why don't you guys come over to my place? My dad will be at work until late, and I'm pretty sure I don't have any rats…" I ended suspiciously, as everyone cheered.

"Yeah! Party at Bella's house!" Emmett yelled, as a few people in our vicinity threw curious glances towards me.

"He's kidding," I laughed nervously, turning to glare at Emmett, who immediately recevied a smack on the head from Rosalie.

"Ow! Okay, sorry. Homework group at Bella's… yay," he corrected himself, unenthusiastically.

All I could do was laugh at the big goofball, following the rest of my friends into the building as the bell rang.

Only as I was walking in did I see a flash of silver pull smoothly into one of the few empty parking spaces in the lot. And suddenly, it was just like a series of butterflies had exploded in my stomach, both from excitement and nervousness.

* * *

Lunch came rolling around soon enough, and it was like my nervousness seemed to be doubling by the second, making my heart speed up, and my breathing quicken. I had no idea why I was freaking out so much.

Oh yeah, probably because this was the first time I was seeing Edward since our whole "kissing and confessing our feelings for one another" thing only two nights ago. I mean, what if he realized that telling me had been a mistake? Or that I wasn't really the one for him? Or that he was just too embarrassed to be seen with me in public? Or maybe… he didn't _really_ like me and this was all an elaborate prank to entertain himself?

The last option was giving me chills.

Sliding my tray across the table, I grabbed a bowl of sliced fruit as well as a water, keeping my meal simple, as I paid for it. Then I proceeded to head over to the table that I had grown so accustomed to.

I succeeded in paying attention to Jasper and Emmett's conversation for approximately one minute, before my mind started whirring, wondering if Edward was even in the cafeteria at all, or if one of my suspicions had been right – he was avoiding me.

Just like that first day of school, my eyes scanned the crowds of chatting students, looking for that familiar mop of bronze paired with those intense green eyes.

It was almost instantly that I found him… already staring at me.

And then it was like the Heavens had opened up as he smiled, motioning subtly to the cafeteria doors. Seeing him stand up, and head over to the doors leading to the outside of the building, I immediately got his message loud and clear; he wanted me to follow him out.

I knew that it would be incredibly obvious if I left after him – even waiting a few minutes before walking outside seemed suspicious. So I waited a minute or two, and then quickly explained to my friends that I was going to the bathroom.

No one really paid me any heed, except for Rosalie, whose eyes were unusually inquisitive, as if she knew that I was hiding something and simply wanted to know what.

"I'll be back soon," I assured her, slipping out of my chair, and moving through the other set of doors in the cafeteria – these led to one of the locker-filled hallways inside the school.

It would take me a little longer to meet Edward, but it would be a lot less apparent that I was meeting him outside. There were windows everywhere in the cafeteria that could see out into the school compound, so when I felt a pair of arms gently grab hold of me, pulling me under the shade of a large tree that was hidden from view, I wasn't _completely_ shocked.

"Hey," he grinned, eyes mesmerizing as ever, as he pulled me close to him.

"Hey," I smiled back, feeling more and more relaxed with every passing moment spent with Edward.

"I kinda had the feeling that you were avoiding me today," he half-heartedly joked, though there was an underlying tone of hurt.

"I-" sighing, I thought about my response. It had never occurred to me that with my own nervousness, it could've come out as me avoiding him, which wasn't the case.

"It's kind of ridiculous to believe, but I was just… worried that things were going to be weird after everything that happened."

"Are they?" Edward whispered.

"Aside from the fact that we're currently hiding behind a tree… no, not really," I beamed, as Edward squeezed my hand. I was practically jumping for joy on the inside that things between Edward and I were going way more smoothly than I'd predicted. That was one of the benefits of my pessimism, I guess.

"I don't want to hide…but I just have to figure out how I'm going to tell them. I'm nervous to call them all up and be like 'Hey, listen; I have something really important to tell you guys that'll explain why I've been so standoffish for the past few months. Could you all meet me so we can talk about it in person?'" Edward closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Biting my lip, I took a deep breath, "I may have a solution to that part of the problem."

Edward's eyes immediately flew open, and he cocked an eyebrow as I explained that everyone was already coming over to my house today to get help with homework. He would just show up a bit later, and then the talking would commence. There was no need for any awkward 'calling everyone together' since they were all already going to be in one place.

Noting Edward's unsettled look, I back-pedaled, "You don't have to do it today. I just wanted you to know that there was an option."

He took a deep breath, shaking his head, "No, I should just get it over with. I'm just freaking out a bit about their reactions. I mean, what if they don't take it as well as you?"

I couldn't lie, "There's always that possibility... but there's also the possibility that things can go perfectly fine. I'll be right next to you the entire time, so at least you'll know that you've got one person on your side."

My response seemed to be just what he needed to hear to ease his worries, and my heart skipped a beat as it always did when his lips pulled up into the crooked grin that I had come to adore. Before I could really register what was happening, his lips were being pressed against mine as his arms wrapped around my waist.

Leaning right back into the kiss, my arms wound around his neck, as my fingers quickly threaded through his hair. The kiss got deeper really fast, and rather than pull away when Edward's tongue flicked across my lips, I opened my mouth to him. I'd only ever _seen_ people kiss with tongue, and I imagined that it took a lot of practice to be good at it.

But somehow, my entire body was moving on its own accord as my tongue wound with Edward's and I let out a sigh into his mouth. Everything felt so ridiculous natural – I didn't even have to really think about what I was doing (which was both a good and bad thing). Both of us seemed to pull away around the same time, panting loudly as Edward's expression quickly morphed into one of guild.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have… forced myself on you. I don't know what came over me," the fact that he was apologizing for his actions just made my feelings for him multiply tenfold.

A deep blush painted across my cheeks, "I didn't mind."

That was probably the understatement of the century. _'I didn't mind'_? More like: _I really enjoyed that and I hope we can do it again really, really soon. _

"So we're good? I'm still allowed to see you?" Edward held a playful glint in his eyes, mixed with slight apprehension.

All I could do was laugh, "Of course."

I gave him a light peck on the lips, realizing that it was probably time that I got back to my friends.

"See you in Biology," I smiled, as he half-heartedly released me from his grip.

All I could do was smile and shake my head, secretly feeling an immense amount of flattery that he was finding it hard to stay away from me, even for a few minutes.

I tried my best to mask my smile as I returned to my friends. Most didn't notice, but Rosalie kept staring at me as if she knew exactly what was going on, which made me increasingly panicky.

It felt like forever with Rosalie's eyes focused on me, but finally, the bell rang, and we all branched off to our separate classes. My jumpiness slowly started to fade as I grew closer to the Biology lab, biting back a smile when I saw Edward already sitting at our table, busying himself by reading ahead in his textbook.

Sitting down, I leaned across, whispering, "Nerd."

That earned a pointed look from Edward, as he turned to me, looking at my hands that were already writing down the date and the title for the lesson, flipping open the textbook to the chapter that we were covering today.

He raised his eyebrows at me, as I frowned at the involuntary movement of my hands, "Touché." We both grinned.

"So, I'll come over to your house around five?" Edward clarified, as I nodded.

"Sounds about right."

"Okay," he took a deep breath.

It really bugged me seeing him so stressed about this, and again, my mind seemed to lose control of my body as my hand found his under the table, interlocking our fingers.

Squeezing my hand, Edward threw me a grateful look. The fact that I almost had an unconscious desire to make Edward happy was both confusing and exhilarating. I wasn't sure what it meant; but I could definitely feel the bond between us getting stronger with every passing moment spent with him.

* * *

Everyone had followed me home in their respective cars, piling into my house and gathering around the living room table, ready to get down to business.

"Ugh, is anyone here good at Calculus?" I wondered aloud, remembering my large pile of homework. It was going to be impossible to finish my work for my tomorrow if I was going to be helping Rosalie with her essay, and then when Edward came over, I suspected that a lot of time would go to that as well.

All of my friends collectively shook their heads, cringing.

Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie hadn't taken it, and Alice said that she was terrible at regular math, so I could only imagine what her grade in Calculus had been.

As Rosalie pulled out her laptop, I began reading through the topic that her essay was based on, already formulating ideas for the thesis statement and three points that were going to be elaborated on.

I jotted down a few notes on lined paper – with her help, of course, seeing as I wasn't even taking the subject – and we got to work. The great thing about essay writing was that once you had your outline done, actually typing out the essay was pretty much a breeze.

While Rosalie got to typing, I began pulling out my Calculus books, internally groaning when I saw the amount of work Mr. Jones had assigned.

_Well, no time to waste, then. _

It truly seemed like the two hours passed in the blink of an eye since we were all so focused on getting our work finished. Almost everyone had completed the work except for Rosalie (whose essay was due on Friday, so it wasn't really a top priority anyway), Emmett, and me. I only had two more questions to go, thankfully, and I expected that I'd have enough time to get them done later.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Just as I was about to get up to answer it, Emmett dropped all of the work that Jasper had been helping with, eager to take a break as he raced for the door.

Panic surged through me as I ran right after him, but he beat me to it, opening the door, "Bella Swan's residence! How may I help you…" his voice died down as he actually took note of the person standing in front of him, who was gulping.

I stood right behind Emmett, giving Edward an apologetic look, as I sighed.

"Emmett," I said cautiously, gauging his reaction.

"_What _in God's name is _he _doing here?" Emmett jabbed a finger in Edward's direction as Edward visibly deflated.

Of all the people in our group of friends, I hadn't expected Emmett to be this mad. I could only hope that everyone else would take Edward's appearance a little better than this, or else I was going to have to step in.

* * *

**A/N: I really hate myself because I wanted to put everything in this chapter, like the whole conversation between Edward and everyone else, and all the reactions. But I'm going to have to dedicate the next chapter entirely to all that. **

**I needed to use this chapter to build up on the meeting, and have it make sense, you know? It wouldn't be Bella without all of the incessant worrying. But at least I gave you guys a sneak peek to what's coming next! :) haha**

**Please leave me some reviews, and let me know what you guys think will happen in the next chapter! **

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you for all of the alerts & favourites!**

**And thank you to these incredible people for reviewing: _CLee56, sujari6, TwilighterSam1989, anglealice, Em2017, cbmorefie, SapphiRubyCrys, DYLANILOVEYOUO'BRIEN_, and _Monyetta_.**

**Wait. THANK YOU FOR 100 REVIEWS EVERYONE! It does not cease to amaze me how many of you enjoy my writing. **

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. _

* * *

Chapter 11

Bella

_Recap:_

_I stood right behind Emmett, giving Edward an apologetic look, as I sighed. _

"_Emmett," I said cautiously, gauging his reaction. _

"What_ in God's name is _he_ doing here?" Emmett jabbed a finger in Edward's direction as Edward visibly deflated. _

_Of all the people in our group of friends, I hadn't expected Emmett to be this mad. I could only hope that everyone else would take Edward's appearance a little better than this, or else I was going to have to step in. _

"Emmett, I can explain." Even saying the cliché out loud made me want to roll my eyes.

By this time, almost everyone had rushed from the living room into the crowded hallway to see what all of the commotion was about. And once _they_ saw Edward, I was met with mixed expressions of shock, confusion, anger, and hurt.

Slowly stepping around Emmett, I led Edward inside, shutting the door behind him, suspecting that he would've frozen outside if he'd waited there any longer. He gave me an indiscernible look, and a small smile, before also turning to inspect the reactions of his ex-friends.

"When I invited you guys over here… I kind of had an ulterior motive," I started off. "I wanted to be able to get you guys all together so that Edward could talk to you."

"And who says we want to talk to him?" Jasper asked, directing his harsh words towards Edward, causing Edward to flinch and Alice to give Jasper a sharp look.

_Okay, so clearly there was a lot of tension here…. _

And as much as I was trying to put myself in everyone else's shoes, I couldn't help but also feel irate that Edward was so obviously being attacked.

"I don't think you realize just how much stress you put everyone here under. Alice was distraught – still _is_ distraught – over your sudden distance. I literally had to watch her cry over you for days, and I couldn't do anything to help her because I had no idea _why_ you would just up and leave so suddenly. Really, Edward, did you not think about how your actions would impact us? Or were you just thinking of yourself?"

Jasper's voice was cold as he ended his speech, as I internally cringed, feeling the impact his words were having on Edward.

"We were friends for years, man. We deserved an explanation," Emmett knitted his eyebrows together.

Throughout this 'venting' of sorts, I couldn't help but note the fact that only Emmett and Jasper were voicing their opinions, while Rosalie and Alice simply remained silent, with saddened looks on their faces as they looked towards Edward.

And then something that Jasper had said stood out to me: _Alice was distraught – still _is _distraught…._

He was obviously more annoyed at the fact that Edward had caused Alice a lot of pain. Even though it was physically destroying me seeing Edward simply standing there, not defending himself, I couldn't help but find it incredibly romantic that both Jasper and Emmett cared so deeply for their respective significant others.

But then when Emmett began shaking his head, and telling Edward that he didn't want to see his face for another second… I decided that things had gotten _way_ out of control.

"Okay, I think everyone just needs to take a deep breath. I can't imagine how any of you must be feeling right now. I know a lot of you might want to punch Edward – believe me I did too," I realized that I probably needed to get to my point more quickly because Emmett was nodding way too enthusiastically for my liking, and Edward was giving me a look that screamed: _I thought you were on my side!_

"But then, he started explaining himself. It was confusing and hard to believe at first, but once he got to the end, I really understood why he had done what he had done. And hopefully, you guys will too," I ended softly, looking up at Edward and signaling that this was his cue to start.

Edward cleared his throat, forcing himself to look right at his friends. Even though several harsh comments had been thrown his way, he wasn't backing down, and I couldn't have been prouder.

"I wanted to tell you guys, but I didn't think that it was safe. I still don't, but I also can't stand you guys thinking that I distanced myself because I wanted to. I did it out of necessity," Edward sighed, looking back down at me.

I gave him an encouraging smile, and he continued with his story, explaining last summer's ordeal, whereby his family had started receiving threats, all because of Dr. Cullen's choice of surgical procedure on a patient. Obviously, the person sending these threats had been a friend of the deceased patient, and this man had determined that a fair form of revenge would be to make Dr. and Mrs. Cullen feel the same pain that he had – by killing one of their friends each.

"So, this is where you all come in. It really… freaked me out hearing what this person had done. And the fact that he had killed my parents' _friends_ – it made me think that the same thing could happen to you. So I figured that if I stopped kept away from you guys, then maybe you'd be safe," finally, a couple looks of realization dawned on their faces.

Rosalie was the only one who had seemed to reach enlightenment only halfway during Edward's explanation, and was now looking between Edward and myself with a smirk.

Oh, she _knew_.

And from the calculating look on her face, she was definitely going to speak up and say _something_ about our relationship.

"It's been a year since those murders, so I don't know if this guy has ended his rampage. I'm hoping that he has," Edward ran his fingers through his hair, once again making me feel lightheaded, momentarily forgetting that we were in the middle of a serious conversation.

And then as everyone seemed to take a deep breath and absorb all of his words, Alice ran up to Edward, giving him a bone-crushing hug, "So you don't hate us?"

She was crying, but they were happy tears, and it pulled at my heartstrings seeing how this confession had brought even more life into her bubbly persona.

The guilt was brought back into Edward's face, "No. I never hated any of you. And I know saying 'sorry' doesn't cover it, but I am sorry that I made you all believe that."

"It's okay. Just as long as you don't ever leave us again," Alice choked out, even making me tear up a bit at the amount of emotion held in her voice.

Alice's words seemed to have made Jasper loosen up a bit, as well as Emmett. And though I knew that they had forgiven Edward, like myself, they weren't going to let him off the hook as easily as Alice had.

Rosalie was silent, except for that devilish smile on her face, which was making me more and more anxious by the second.

"So why the sudden change in heart? I mean, you said it yourself. It's been a year since anything has happened. You could've told us months ago, or you could've waited another year to tell us. So, why now?" Rosalie expression was composed, except for that twinkle in her eyes and the slight tug at her lips.

Now everyone else's eyebrows creased in thought, realizing that Rosalie was right.

_Oh no. _

I couldn't really blame her for wanting to out the two of us, but still, it didn't make the question any less embarrassing.

Edward seemed to realize what was going on by Rosalie's teasing expression, and my flustered one. But he remained unfazed, and surprisingly, he actually seemed eager to tell everyone.

"I met someone," Edward said simply, making the confusion etched on their faces deepen.

I was genuinely astonished that no one was catching on as yet, except for maybe Alice, who seemed to be looking from Edward to me with clear eyes, slowly brightening with excitement.

"She's beautiful, but it's not just that. She's kind, and understanding, and I couldn't even pretend to hate her. So, on Saturday night, I went over to Jacob Black's party – " my blush was spreading to my neck now, and Alice was bouncing on her heels, while Jasper had a small smile on his face.

"Dude, we were there too! Why didn't we see you?" Emmett wondered aloud, as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Everyone else seemed to be doing the same, giving Emmett a look as if he was blind.

He remained oblivious.

Edward continued as if he hadn't been interrupted in the first place, "And I told her everything, about my father. And how I couldn't stay away from her, no matter how hard I tried."

My stomach was doing somersaults as Edward's gaze turned down towards me. His hand went up to caress my cheek, "She made me realize that I can't live in fear forever, or else I'll miss out on all the good things."

I smiled, my face still feeling hot, as Edward chuckled, running his thumb along my burning cheeks.

"_Wait. _You two are together?!" Emmett yelled, as we all busted out laughing.

_Took him long enough. _

"I _so_ knew it," Rosalie congratulated herself, as I grinned towards her.

"You did. I think long before anyone else," I laughed, as Alice pouted at having missed the obvious.

"I never took you for a sap, Edward," Jasper joked, as Edward shrugged, slinging his arm across my shoulder as he planted a kiss on my cheek.

"People change," was all he said, as Jasper's teasing smile became a genuine one.

"I'm happy for you guys," Rosalie smiled, coming over and wrapping us in a hug, which everyone soon joined into.

"So you guys aren't mad?" I asked, when everyone separated once again.

Emmett looked towards Rosalie, and Jasper looked towards Alice. Both girls were beaming, looking like the weight of the world had been lifted off of their shoulders. I was glad that the air had finally been cleared after all of these months since I knew how much Edward's distance had affected all of my friends.

Emmett sighed, "As much as I enjoyed being the bad guy, after hearing what you had to say, I _kind of_ get it. So, I won't beat the crap out of you anymore."

Edward had a smile on his face, along with a fleeting look of relief.

"_But _we're not just going to welcome you with open arms… because whether it was for a good cause or not, you did give me a lot of headaches. So I'm still going to use this to my advantage for a little while," Jasper had a mischievous glint in his gray eyes, as Edward tensed next to me, and the rest of us laughed.

I could just imagine Edward having to do everything Jasper wanted him to do – get him a drink from the kitchen, make him a sandwich, do his Chemistry homework.

And although Edward was groaning and acting like he was dreading the entire thing, I could tell that inside, he was simply thrilled that he'd gotten his friends back.

"So what's for dinner? I'm starved," Emmett rubbed his stomach, eyes flickering to the kitchen.

"And you will continue to be starved until you finish your Spanish assignment," Rosalie gave Emmett a pointed look as he made a face, pouting.

"But _Rosie_," Emmett whined like a child, as Rosalie rolled her eyes, pushing him back in the direction of the living room as I shook my head at the two of them.

"I think I'm gonna make some risotto," I mumbled to myself, thinking that Charlie would enjoy the meal, as well as my friends, who all seemed to be nodding enthusiastically as if they enjoyed the dish.

"I would help, but I'm kind of a kitchen hazard," Alice cringed, as Jasper shuddered, apparently remembering some horrendous incident.

"Yeah, she's staying away from the kitchen," Jasper, exaggerating his point, pulled his girlfriend back into the living room.

"I'll help," Edward offered, "I'm not _amazing_, but I'll do whatever I can."

I smiled, appreciating his offer, especially since men rarely helped in the kitchen nowadays, "Thank you."

Planning on giving him a small peck on the lips before getting to work, I was about to pull away when Edward wrapped his arms around my waist preventing me from doing so. _Sneaky little thing. _

Unconsciously, I smiled against his lips causing him to smile right back as, this time, my tongue slid across his lips and his mouth opened, allowing my tongue's entrance. My hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to me as he did the same, so that our bodies touched. From here, my fingers threaded into his hair as his tongue found mine, and he let out a sigh.

Even when we broke away, Edward planted a series of butterfly kisses all over my face, smiling as he settled on my lips, pecked them this time. I was beyond rattled at this point, from his close proximity and his soft kisses, that when he pulled away, "Right. So, risotto?" I couldn't even comprehend what he was talking about.

He was _entirely_ pleased at this fact, chuckling, "We were about to start cooking dinner."

Blinking, I nodded, "Right. Dinner."

This only made him laugh harder, as he grasped my hand in his, kissing the back of my hand as I guided him into the kitchen.

* * *

Making dinner had been more fun that I'd initially expected. But then again, simply being in Edward's presence was entertaining.

Emmett stopped by periodically to check on the food, patting his stomach each time. And on the third time, Edward had held his knife up threateningly, "Emmett, it'll be done in half an hour. Go finish your work."

This had earned a giggle from me, and a grumble from Emmett, "_Fine_."

During our time cooking, I learned a few things about Edward and, ironically, myself. I hadn't ever realized it before, but I apparently hummed whenever cutting up vegetables, a trait that was only brought to my attention when Edward smiled, "That would be annoying if you weren't so adorable."

Upon seeing my puzzled expression, Edward had elaborated, smiling, "You're humming 'Mirrors' by Justin Timberlake."

Then we'd both snickered at my choice of song, pouring the ingredients into the pot, deciding to leave it to simmer for a couple of minutes.

When the time came for everyone to eat, I made sure that I saved some for Charlie when he arrived home. Edward and I had made enough food to serve eight people, but Emmett technically counted as two, which Edward had informed me while measuring out the Arborio rice.

"Yum," Emmett said with a full mouth, after taking his first bite. This, naturally, earned him a look of disgust from Rosalie, "Close your mouth, you big oaf."

The rest of us laughed at the always-bickering couple, continuing to eat our food.

"This really is amazing though, guys. Great job," Alice praised, as everyone agreed. Both Edward and I shrugged modestly, "We tried."

Taking a moment to glance around the table, I couldn't help but smile at all of my friends, sitting on my kitchen table, eating the risotto that Edward and I had made. It was insane to think that just a few days ago, things had been so different.

"What are you smiling about?" Edward whispered, though he didn't really need to, as everyone else seemed wrapped up in his or her own conversations.

"I'm just glad this went well," I replied honestly, as Edward's smile widened.

"Me too."

But regardless of my emotions, there continued to be this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that left me feeling somewhat unsettled. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to shake it.

* * *

**A/N: Oooh troubles lie ahead. Maybe. Who knows *shrug***

**Anyway! What did you guys think about this? Sorry for the delay! I planned to post this yesterday, but the past week was a total mess, so I didn't get time to work on this chapter until today. I wish I could've written more about everyone and all of the reactions, but I got a bit tired halfway through. I feel like some of you had really high expectations for this chapter, and I didn't feel like I reached it, so I'm sorry about that. **

**I'll try my best to put more effort into the coming chapters. **

**On another note: I reeeeally enjoy reading and replying to all of your reviews, so please leave me some :) good, constructive, random. I appreciate them all!**

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you for the alerts & favourites. **

**And thank you to these amazing people for reviewing: _HockeyChick10, anglealice, 04, SapphiRubyCrys, Alondra2015, BlueHummingbird8, Em2017, cbmorefie, TwilighterSam1989, DYLANILOVEYOUO'BRIEN,_ and _Monyetta_.**

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_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. _

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Chapter 12

Bella

The following days at school passed rather quickly, and the group of us fell into a routine. At first, it was quite odd to see Edward sitting next to me at our usual table consisting of Rose, Emmett, Jasper, Alice and me. Obviously, it was a pleasant kind of strange having him sit right beside me and talk to me instead of us sneaking glances at each other across the room.

Eventually though, I think that everyone got used to the change, beginning to fully welcome Edward back into the group. That thrilled me beyond words, seeing the guy of my dreams getting along with my good friends, repairing the damage that had been done.

It was now Friday afternoon, and everyone stood huddled at Emmett's Jeep, discussing plans for the weekend.

"_Guys_," Alice halted the conversation, as if she'd just gotten the most brilliant idea. "Let's do a sleepover."

A round of, "Hmm," followed be several nods made Alice squeal, clapping her hands together as she came up with several concepts for said sleepover.

"We can have it at my house," Edward spoke up, immediately making the conversation die down, as almost every head turned towards him.

He hadn't been nervous before, but now he was. I could see very easily that he was trying to appear collected and casual, when inside he was freaking out. After all, this would be the first time that anyone would be going over to Edward's house in over a year. In my case, it would be my first time even at his house.

"I think that my parents would enjoy seeing you guys again," Edward passed his hands through his hair, immediately indicating that he was getting more and more anxious by the second, seeing everyone's blank stares.

There was a moment of unbearable suspense before: "Then I guess we're sleeping over at Edward's," Alice shrugged, beaming, as the rest of our friends seemed to jolt awake, voicing their agreement.

I wondered if Edward's parents had been supportive of his idea to separate from his friends, or if they'd tried to talk him out of it. The way that Edward talked about his parents, I could imagine them being worried about Edward getting lonely at school. With their son's stubbornness, their efforts to discourage him had probably been in vain.

My train of thought wandered, and at once, as if waking up from a coma, I realized that I was going to be _meeting Edward's parents_.

What was he going to introduce me as? His friend? The girl he was seeing? His _girlfriend_?

The word sent a swarm of butterflies through my stomach, and a warm feeling spread through me at the thought of Edward being my boyfriend.

But I wasn't sure that Edward would feel the same way. After all, we'd only been dating for a week. Heck, we hadn't even gone on a _date_ yet, though none of that really mattered to me. I already felt like I had gotten to know Edward a lot at Jacob's party, and going on dates felt like more of a formality to me than anything. It was really just two people going out for dinner or a movie. In the middle of a crowded room, getting to know each other.

The idea, as lovely as it used to sound to me before, wasn't that appealing now. I much preferred to be alone with Edward, without eyes flickering towards us, or waiters periodically disturbing our conversation.

But back to my original predicament: how on Earth was I going to be acting around Edward and his parents?

"Alright, I'm gonna head home to get started on some homework. What time are we meeting at Edward's?" Rosalie's grey eyes wandered to each person, as Edward looked to be in thought.

"Six is a good time. My mom will probably wanna cook for you guys, or something," Edward shook his head, sighing, as almost everyone cheered. I was kind of out of loop as to why everyone seemed so excited.

Emmett filled me in, "Esme's cooking is the reason I breathe. It is purely amazing."

That wasn't entirely hard to believe. I giggled, "Good to know."

So, it was settled then. We would all be meeting at Edward's place for six o'clock, where we would then spend the night.

Just as everyone began branching off, and I naturally moved towards my truck, I felt Edward's hand grasp mine, "Hold on," spinning me towards him.

"I think you forgot something," Edward said seriously.

For a moment, I was befuddled, thinking of all the possible things that I needed and could have possibly forgotten. And then, mentally smacking myself, I realized what Edward had really meant, blushing as he began leaning down, planting his smooth lips on mine. And just like that, I forgot everything and everyone. All thoughts of the impending meeting of Edward's parents left my brain.

One of my hands reached up to the back of Edward's neck, pulling him closer to me. In turn, his lips upturned against mine, as his tongue flicked across my lips.

Abruptly, both Edward and I pulled away from each other, hearing the loud honking of a car horn. Edward's eyes narrowed once falling on Emmett's grinning face, "Just trying to keep things PG. We're in a public place, guys."

He gestured to the empty parking lot, making me roll my eyes.

_Where was Rosalie to smack this guy over the head when we needed her?_

Edward ignored our friend, turning back towards me, about to dip his head down. But of course, the honking started again, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face as Edward glared threateningly at Emmett.

"Do you _mind_?" Edward let out a frustrated sigh, as I laughed lightly. Seeing him mad, while entirely amusing, was also a bit of a turn-on. My laugh appeared to have made Edward relax a little, as Emmett kept his poker face intact.

"Nope," Emmett shrugged. His straightforward answer left me smiling, and Edward glowering.

"He's such an idiot," Edward whispered, trying to be quiet enough so that only I could hear.

"What was that?" Emmett called, making Edward yell right back, "I was telling Bella that I'll see her later."

My lips twitched as I planted a kiss on Edward's cheek, "See you."

His entire expression softened, as he smiled right back, letting me go to my truck.

Only as I was retreating did I hear the muffled grumbling of Edward to Emmett, again making me smile to myself as I hopped into my truck.

Of course, once in solitude, my nerves went haywire. I knew that I was probably psyching myself up for no reason, and that trying too hard to impress Edward's parents was not the way for me to go. Knowing me, I would probably wind up embarrassing myself even _more_ than normal.

I just needed to take a few breaths and not overthink this meeting. They're just the parents of a guy I happen to really like. No biggie.

Even in my head, it sounded ridiculous. Sighing, I gunned my engine, pulling out of the lot effortlessly and making my way home. Hopefully, my never-ending pile of Calculus homework would distract me from my thoughts – seriously, Mr. Jones needed to ease it with the homework. I was pretty sure my brain was fried and we weren't even halfway into the semester as yet.

* * *

I'd managed to get through most of my homework, deciding to leave the rest for the next day when I got back home. Grabbing the bag I'd packed containing my toiletries and clothes, I quickly fixed my hair in the mirror, taking a glance at myself.

I was wearing a plain black shirt with black-and-white checkered leggings, along with my white Converse. My hair was tied into a high bun, and my make-up was barely noticeable.

Making sure to slip into my coat, I walked outside, meeting Alice and Rosalie in her sleek red BMW, currently parked (once again) next to the scrap of metal that was my truck. As much as I mentally bashed my poor car, I did adore it, beat up as it was – hey, at least it was fully functional.

Rosalie had offered to carpool with us, seeing as I didn't know where Edward lived, and Alice was too lazy to drive on her own.

"Hey," I greeted, sliding into the back seat, cushioned by the black leather interior.

"Nervous?" Rosalie glanced in her rearview mirror at me, making me flush.

"How did you…?" I left my question hanging, mouth slightly agape.

"I know that look. Alice knows that look. You're meeting your boyfriend's parents for the first time. It's perfectly normal to be freaking out," Rosalie shrugged, pulling out of my driveway as I leaned back in my seat, sighing.

"Edward's not my boyfriend," I said, trying to keep my tone nonchalant, though a hint of bitterness slipped out. I understood that I was completely off-topic, but the thought kept popping up in my mind, and I preferred to vent about this now than keep it bottled up inside.

Alice turned to look back at me from the passenger seat, "Wait. He hasn't asked you yet?"

I simply shook my head, as she sighed, "Well then he's probably just worried that it's too soon to ask. But judging from how close you two have already gotten, the conversation is definitely happening soon."

Alice's words certainly eased some of my worries, as I bit my lip, "Hopefully."

And then, backtracking, "So, um, is there anything I should know about Edward's parents? Do's and don'ts?"

Rosalie smirked, "Though it'd be fun to make you sweat a little more, Edward's parents are actually extremely cool. Down-to-Earth. His mother is a complete sweetheart, and she's a sucker for people with manners - same with Edward's dad. The main point is: just be yourself. I'm sure they'll love you."

_So… be myself. That was the only advice I was going to get. Great. _

I tried not to dwell on the topic, focusing instead on the passing greenery as we slipped into the more secluded part of town, pulling off the highway, and up a winding road.

My mouth immediately dropped open, peering across at the three-story mansion in front of me. Unlike Rosalie's house, it was quite modern, with floor to ceiling windows showcasing the inside, which looked just as magnificent.

Vaguely, I remembered Edward telling me that his mother was an interior designer, which explained the style of the house.

The boys had already arrived, which we inferred after parking between a black Mercedes and Emmett's maroon Jeep.

We all grabbed our bags, heading to the front door, which Alice pushed opened no problem. Inside, we heard the sound of Edward and Jasper roaring, while Emmett cheered on the sidelines. I rolled my eyes: _video games. _

Alice offered to take our bags upstairs into the guest bedroom, while we met the boys, during which time, I wondered where Edward's parents were.

"I think Edward's mom is in the kitchen, finishing dinner, and Edward's dad is most likely in his study," Rosalie filled me in as if reading my mind, as I nodded.

I had been right. The boys _were_ playing a video game - Fifa to be precise. I sat right next to Edward, surprising him with my presence, so much so that he momentarily forgot about his game, leaving his goal open, allowing Jasper to score easily.

I covered a bit of my face, laughing as Jasper whooped and Edward blinked, collecting himself.

He paused the game, making Jasper shout in protest.

"Hey," Edward smiled.

I grinned, "Hey."

His head dipped down only slightly to give me a peck on the lips, as Jasper sighed, "Okay if you two are done being cute, could we please get back to the game? I actually have a chance to beat Edward this time."

Edward rolled his eyes, muttering softly so that only I could hear, "I just can't catch a break today."

The truth of his statement made me laugh, as he grinned right back, turning his attention back to the game as he clicked the 'Play' button on his controller.

I managed to pay attention to the game for a while, happy that regardless of the small mishap, Edward was still winning 4-2. Eventually though, I got a little bored, and it was only as my eyes were wandering around the room did something catch my attention. Though the top was shielded with a thin cloth, I could still make out the intricate detailing on the sides of the coffee table.

_Wait a minute…._

As if some higher power above wanted to further prove my theory, a soothing voice floated through the room at that moment, "Dinner's ready! Oh, hi girls."

My head slowly turned, meeting a woman in her early forties dressed in cream pants and a pastel top, accessorized with a chunky necklace and a matching bracelet. Her amber eyes matched the colour of her hair, currently pinned in an elegant bun. So it _was_ her.

Edward once again paused the game, but this time, Jasper didn't complain for obvious reasons. Alice had already made her way downstairs, meeting Edward's mother in a hug as the woman smiled, hugging Alice back.

Rosalie went next, as Edward's hand found mine, gently tugging me in the direction of his mother. Though the feel of his hand encasing mine relaxed my nerves, the fact that he was holding my hand _in front of his mother_ made me panic slightly.

Edward noticed this, only chuckling and squeezing my hand back as if to say: _she's cool, don't worry._

"Mom, this is Bella," he left the sentence there, as if his mother already knew the status of our relationship, which judging from the look in her eyes, I think she did. For a moment, I thought that she had forgotten that her and I had met before, but once that warm smile spread across her lips and her eyes flickered behind me to the coffee table, I knew that that wasn't the case.

"Have you seen the table? I had a cloth made for it so that the table would be easier to clean. But I didn't want people to miss the detailing, which is why I left the sides uncovered," she pointed out.

"That was actually how I was able to recognize the table, from the sides. It still looks spectacular, and it did fit the setting," I smiled, as she beamed, looking pleased with herself.

Edward cleared his throat awkwardly, clearly wanting to be enlightened on why we were randomly discussing an Indian table. I couldn't blame him. It would've been a bit bizarre to me as well, had I been in his shoes.

"Bella was the girl who helped me choose the coffee table for the living room. When you and your father refused to help, I bothered her in the antique shop for her assistance," Mrs. Cullen looked pointedly at her son, as he rubbed the back of his neck guiltily.

Attempting to steer away from the topic, I smiled, "It's lovely to see you again, Mrs. Cullen."

"Likewise, Bella. And please, call me Esme," her warm smile appeared once again, as Edward and I followed her to meet the rest of our friends already gathered at the dining table.

My eyebrows rose, taking in the various dishes of food, all neatly laid out along the center of the table. There was more than enough room on the table to fit the lot of us, and I noticed with a smile that Emmett was already holding his knife and fork eagerly, ready to dig in.

_Classic_.

As Esme took the covers off the dishes, letting the smell of the food waft even more through our noses, we heard the sounds of footfalls on the staircase, turning our attention to the door. Soon enough emerged a blonde man with outstanding blue eyes, who, though aged like his wife, still looked striking.

I could definitely see where Edward got his good looks from. Since we were already standing, Edward introduced me to his father one time, "You must be Bella. We've heard _lots_ about you."

Shaking his outstretched hand, I felt my cheeks heat up from the way he had enunciated the word 'lots', as I looked over to see that Edward was giving his father a look like: _Seriously?_

"Oops, I guess I wasn't supposed to mention that," he laughed, making me smile as Edward clenched his jaw.

_Okay, it was official, I loved Edward's parents already, and I'd spent less than five minutes in their presence. _

Soon enough, I slipped into a seat between Edward and Alice, while Esme sat on the other side of Alice. Opposite us sat Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper.

"Okay, everyone can go ahead," Esme laughed as Emmett immediately took that as his cue to scoop a big glob of mashed potatoes onto his plate, speedily moving on the other dishes. The rest of us took our time, easing into conversation.

Mainly, everyone was catching up for lost time. In turn, I learned a lot more about Edward and his family, and even my friends. I think many of them had been slightly nervous to see Edward's parents after all those months, but in the end, they'd had no reason to sweat. Like Edward, his parents were genuine people who cared a lot for the people close to them.

Before I knew it, conversation turned to me, "So Bella, how are you enjoying Forks?"

"The weather was something that I had to adjust to, but besides that, I'm warming up to it," I nodded, causing both Esme and Carlisle to smile.

"Might it have something to do with a certain _boy_," Emmett wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, as my cheeks flamed.

"Um," my voice squeaked as everyone began laughing.

"I mean… Edward's _okay, _but I wouldn't say he's had _that_ much of an effect," I shrugged, blatantly lying, causing the laughter to increase as Edward feigned hurt.

"Who said anything about Edward? I was talking about me," Emmett stated in a matter-of-fact tone as Jasper choked on his food, making the rest of us double over in laughter.

_Of course he was. _

* * *

When the time came for dishes to be cleaned, the boys immediately made every excuse possible, leaving the girls to help. Though Esme repeatedly refused: "No, I don't need any help. Really, everything is going into the dishwasher."

"Well then, if everything is just going into the dishwasher, let's help wash and pack the dishes in. All of us working together will get the job done in a faster time," I nodded convincingly, only making her sigh with a smile on her face.

When that was finished, both Esme and Carlisle said their goodbyes to us, informing us that they were heading out to an engagement party for one of their close friends. They wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning, since the party was all the way in Seattle, so it'd be a long drive back late at night. It was incredible that they trusted us to stay alone in their house, but I guess that they both knew that many of us were responsible.

A few minutes after their departure, we all decided we'd get dressed into our sleepwear, then head back downstairs to hang out.

Dressed in a blue cotton top and a pair of matching flannel pants, I met Edward downstairs wearing a black t-shirt and plaid pants – hey, we matched a little. Jasper and Emmett were both dressed similarly to Edward, just in different color schemes. Alice wore pastel pink shorts and a t-shirt, while Rosalie wore a purple tank top and black long pants.

"Okay, who's ready to play Truth or Dare?!" Emmett boomed, immediately making me cringe, while Alice cheered, and the rest of our friends looked indifferent.

"C'mon, we haven't played in a while!" Alice looked earnestly at the rest of us.

Still, I remained uneasy. I'd avoided playing Truth or Dare in the past, since I'd seen most of my friends get violently humiliated as a result of it. I mean, I got embarrassed enough as it was on a regular basis. I didn't need to participate in a game that was actually _dedicated_ to that.

Everyone had agreed to play at this point, due to all of Alice's begging.

And once all heads turned to me, I felt like I had no other choice but to groan, "Fine."

"If things get too crazy, it's all right if you stop playing," Edward whispered, as if sensing my fears. I looked up, a bit surprised but all the same, grateful, "Thank you."

He slung his arm over my shoulder in response, grinning as the game began. For a moment, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. Even his side profile resembled a model straight out of a Giorgio Armani ad.

_Lord. _

"Okay, who's first? How about…" Alice's eyes wandered around the room, before settling on me. _Ugh_.

"Bella!" she tapped her fingers together, as I mentally rolled my eyes. _Naturally, I would be the first person to be chosen. _

"Truth? Or dare?" her eyebrows rose to her hairline, as I took a few seconds to contemplate my decision. While truth seemed like the easy way out, I was sure that she would somehow use the whole 'Edward's not my boyfriend' conversation against me.

So, I surprised both myself and everyone else in the room when I said, "Dare."

Alice put her hands in a prayer position to her face, "Oh, this is going to be good."

"Okay," she finally said after a few moments of finger tapping, an evil glint in her eyes. "I dare you to call Tyler Crowley and ask him out on a date."

I'd expected worse, honestly, but apparently, Edward hadn't. I felt him stiffen next to me, right before I got up from our seated position on the floor to grab my phone.

"I don't think it's fair to Tyler for her to lead him on," Edward pointed out, as I pursed my lips, realizing that he did have a good point.

"What are you talking about?" Alice asked, seemingly clueless.

"Well she's not actually going to go out with him," Edward stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And from the way Alice was looking at him, I realized that it hadn't been that obvious to her.

_Uh oh_.

"Yes, she is. That's the whole point of this dare. And technically, she's _allowed_ to go out on dates with other people seeing as you two aren't officially a couple," Alice was completely nonchalant, as both my jaw and phone dropped.

_She didn't just…._

But from Edward's face - which looked like the colour had drained out of it – as well as the shocked faces of the rest of our friends, apparently she really _had_ said that aloud.

I was almost too much in shock to send Alice a death glare for bringing the topic up. Almost. But even when I sent her my most withering stare, she didn't seem fazed, and the glint in her eyes remained present. Only now did I finally understand it.

The room felt so still at that moment that I could hear Edward as he took a deep breath, "Bella, can I talk to you for a second?"

_Oh no_.

My mind started racing as I tried to keep the dread off of my face, slowly nodding, as our friends remained frozen in their spots. Absently, I remembered to pick my phone up from the carpeted floor, placing it back onto the table.

Edward stood, leading me towards a large winding staircase at the far side of the room, where he placed his hand on my back, gently nudging me to follow him upstairs, out of earshot from our friends.

I anticipated that this was going to be a thoroughly uncomfortable conversation. I could only hope that I was wrong.

My only distraction was that Edward had appeared to open the door into a room painted grey, with an entire wall dedicated to a black bookshelf, as well as a plasma TV hanging off another wall, right in front of a leather sofa and a king-sized bed.

His room.

I could tell that he was doing his best not to make things awkward, letting me sit cross-legged on his bed, as he sat with his legs hanging off the side, a few inches from me. I picked my nails nervously, as he finally looked towards me.

"I don't want to rush things," he began, looking at my face carefully, waiting for me to react.

Even though I'd seen it coming, I still felt a large pang run deep through my stomach, as I looked down at my nails, which Alice had painted matte peach. I tried to keep my expression neutral, not wanting to appear too devastated.

That was a difficult task.

"But I also don't want us to see other people," he continued. This time, nervousness was evident in his voice, as I glanced up, surprised.

I hoped I wasn't misinterpreting his statement, so just to be sure, I asked, "What are you saying?" I needed him to say the words. I didn't want to just assume things and have my spirits lifted only to be painfully crushed.

There was a hint of a smile on my lips, which seemed to relax him somewhat.

"I'm hoping that you'd be my girlfriend, Bella," his green eyes seemed to glimmer as his gaze fell across me.

There it was. _Girlfriend_. He wanted me to be his _girlfriend_.

"I'd like that," was my insufficient response, though said with a gigantic smile on my face. I wanted to say more, wanted to kiss him until I couldn't breathe, but somehow, my body was still too much in shock from everything that had all occurred in the blink of an eye.

* * *

When we both made it back downstairs, with a bounce in our step, all of our friends seemed engrossed in a serious discussion – one involving Edward and me, I was sure, seeing as their mouths immediately closed upon noting our presence.

"She's not going out with Tyler Crowley," was all Edward said, pulling me to sit beside him, as a smile tugged at my lips, feeling the stares of our friends on me. Edward's hand laced through mine, squeezing it.

It was as if he had forgotten that we were amidst friends. Either that, or he just didn't care. His other hand went to my face, stroking my blushing cheek with his thumb. With a small, bemused smile on his face, he planted his lips on mine, bringing on the hollers from our friends (mainly Emmett).

I melted into the kiss, feeling so much passion and hope within it as my hand clutched his t-shirt. My body was acting on its own accord, leaning closer to Edward as his tongue smoothly made its way onto my mouth, entangling with mine, battling for dominance.

Ironically, there were no interruptions this time.

I guessed that our friends were either much too happy to bother telling us to get a room, or they just didn't care much about the PDA.

When we both eventually pulled away, Edward wore his dazzling crooked grin on his face, visibly unable to contain his elation in that moment. It made those familiar butterflies once again flutter throughout my stomach, as my own smile matched his.

Alice cleared her throat, "Well, if that's all sorted then…."

I had figured out by now that Alice was the mastermind of all masterminds. Risky as it was mentioning something like our relationship status to Edward, it _had_ brought more of our feelings to light. And for that, I was grateful to her.

* * *

**A/N: I have no idea why, but this chapter just took me forever to write. Oh, I just looked at the word count and realized that this one's the longest chapter so far. Hmm.**

**Anyway! This chapter was filled with lots of different things. Any favourite parts? Hated it? Loved it?**

**I was amazed at how many errors I made throughout it while going through and editing. I guess I really was tired while writing :/ hope I corrected most of them. **

**Please leave me some reviews! I love them a lot :)**

**OH and before I forget: some really cool/random/exciting news. _SunGoesDown95 _has begun translating my story into German, so the link to that is on my profile if any of you are interested. The first chapter is up, and I believe that she's making weekly updates. So YEAH. That's pretty awesome to me. **

**Xoxo**

**LoveACullen **


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